Laguna Niguel Real Estate Blog

There's an interesting article over at the Orange County Register about the recently published index by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Bank that ranks O.C. as the nation's fifth least affordable housing market. But this is actually good news for Orange County home buyers since last year the county ranked in the top three, just behind Los Angeles and Salinas. This means that housing in the county is becoming more affordable. In fact this news follows on the heals of an announcement by the California Association of Realtors report that home affordability in O.C. is the highest it has been in three years.

If you're curious as to where you might find the most affordable market, it's Kokomo, Indiana at 93%. Lets see ... palm trees, breathtaking coastline and ideal year-round weather with sunny days and an average temperature of 70 degrees. At this writing it is 6° F in Kokomo Ind. You decide.

Labels: home sales, industry news, market, market update, South Orange County Real Estate

Posted by Cherri Fox at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

It may be time to suspend your disbelief for a moment because I'm here to tell you that the Real Estate Market is not only hot, it's on FIRE. Let's look at some examples of how and in what price ranges the inventory is really moving.

Myth #1 The market is soft and slowing for everything except high end listings.
Here are some examples of well priced properties that have flown of the shelves of inventory within the last 3 months:


Sold Price $332,000
Rancho Niguel 760* Sq Ft Condo
On The Market: 37 Days



Sold Price $389,000
Rancho Niguel 908* Sq Ft Condo
On The Market: 11 Days



Sold Price $475,000
Laguna Niguel
3 Bedroom Townhome 1100*+ Sq Ft Condo
On The Market: 18 Days



Sold Price $527,599
Marina Hills, Laguna Niguel Condo 1200* Sq Ft Condo
On The Market: 23 Days

How about homes over 1 Million? Yep, there are plenty that have been snapped up right away.

I can go on and on, for every price bracket there are literally deals being made on constant basis. This really indicates that when listings are priced right, the buyers come out of the woodwork. The number one thing that will convince people to hire an agent is that they think that agent will get them the best price for their listing. At the same time, the number one thing that encourages buyers to make an offer even on a new listing is the idea that they could get a deal.

I can cite examples of these "short time on the market" listings all day. There are handfulls in each price range, and that is just in Laguna Niguel.

While many consumer and agents alike are sitting scratching their heads wondering what kind of market we're all in, the savvy ones are finding deals and putting them together. Perception can be 180 degrees off of reality.

Look at the case of another agent and colleague of mine, Jake Snavely. His goal is to always have a sale in escrow, and right now he has two. One of which was his listing that sold in 5 days.

How about on higher end properties? Of course, it is happening there too. Take for instance in Niguel Shores, on the Ocean Side of PCH, a home that was only on the market 2 days. There the first offer was being submitted within 24 hours of the listing coming onto the market. The listing price was more than 2.1 Million.

It is almost as if by reading the newspaper, you get the sense that they are in an alternate universe. There are deals happening all over South Orange County, and it just takes a little research to find them.

*All Square Footage Numbers are Estimates
**All Pricing, Square Footage, and Days on Market Data Provided by SoCal MLS

Labels: market update

Posted by Rory at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post