A few parts of highly-sought after South Orange County real estate were an anomaly in recent real estate findings by MDA DataQuick, reported Daniel Taub on October 13, 2009, for Bloomberg News.  While “Southern California house and condominium prices fell 11 percent in September from a year earlier as foreclosures dominated sales,” Orange County was the only county to experience an increase in median price, with the figure rising 0.9 percent to $429,000.  This is compared to San Bernardino, which dropped 27 percent to just $150,000.

Some of the most popular real estate in South Orange County is in the exclusive and elite neighborhood of Laguna Beach, a thriving beach community reserved for only the most selecting and wealthy residents.  Luckily, recent analyses have seen an increase in the home prices and stability of beach markets like Laguna Beach.  In fact, “September was the 15th consecutive month to see year-over-year sales gains,” claimed the writers of the Orange County Register’s October 14, 2009, report.  Pat Veling, who contributed opinion to the article, is the president of a local real estate consulting firm and believes that the “increase in median home price signals that more medium- and higher-priced homes are selling.”  He has found that “the recovery we are seeing has broken out of entry-level price points and is finding its way into mid-level price point.”

Another interesting point from the same news article came from Pat Veling, the president of Real Data Strategies, a local real estate consulting firm.  He believes that “because demand remains so intense for entry-level homes, he added, many buyers are giving up trying to buy them after getting outbid too many times. Some are raising their sights and paying more to buy homes at a price where the competition to buy isn’t so tough.”  This means that the supply of South Orange County homes for sale in the lower-tier markets is dwindling and that demand for mid-tier properties is beginning to surge.

Orange County real estate is finally seeing some good news after years of recession and dropping house prices.  For the first time in two years, Orange County home prices rose, according to Jeff Collins, Jonathan Lansner, and Mathew Padilla of the Orange County Register.  The October 14, 2009, article claims that “a 24-month losing streak ended last month when home prices increased from the year before, although it’s uncertain whether prices will keep on going up or enter a new round of losses.”  According to the most recent reports, “Southern California home prices will be up about 30 percent from the lowest levels by mid-2012.”  This comes as good news for home owners who are looking to see their properties revalue as well as for current homebuyers and investors who have the chance to purchase real estate in Orange County inexpensively with the prospect of selling it at a higher price in just a few years.

DataQuick, who helped to provide statistics and numbers for the Orange County Register, claimed that “the median price for Orange County homes for sale – or the price at the midpoint of all transactions – was $429,000 last month, up 0.9 percent from the median in September 2008.”  According to a Los Angeles Times article run in the October 4, 2009, print edition and written by reporter Peter Y. Hong, there has also been an increase of interest in smaller homes in the county rather than the palatial homes that once dominated the market.  The article says that “deluxe houses now lie vacant in droves along the coasts and hillsides of Southern California, from Manhattan Beach to Irvine.”  However, their prices haven’t dropped nearly as much as many other homes in Orange County because their owners can afford to keep them on the market for “months, sometimes years, hoping to find buyers who would pay their asking prices.”

Although some areas of Orange County are recovering quite well, “expensive gated communities housing mammoth-sized residences in Southern California are turning into albatrosses,” reported Alex Finkelstein on October 5, 2009 for the Real Estate Channel.  “There are no buyers willing to pay the asking top-tier prices for this caliber of real estate at this time. So the properties sit vacant.”