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.
