MARCH 2016 COASTAL ORANGE COUNTY NEWS

Mystic Hills Listed by Amanda and Pamela
1527 Tahiti Ave, Laguna Beach
Spacious 5-Bedroom Home with ocean views from most rooms. 
www.1527Tahiti.com

 

CALIFORNIA HOME SALES KICK OFF YEAR HIGHER IN JANUARY, MARKING BEST START IN THREE YEARS

The fundamentals underlying the demand for housing fueled a healthy start to 2016. All totaled, OC home values are up 8.8% versus last year nearing the 2007 peak. $1,000,000 plus homes represent 35.0% of all OC listings.

Rental Rates: ‘Rising rents’ are quickly becoming ‘a life event’ as the top reason homebuyers will look to purchase a home. As it stands, one in four homebuyers is looking to purchase because their rent is too high. When asked what most influenced their decision to buy the only choice buyers cited more frequently was a major life event, such as the birth of a child or a marriage, according to a Redfin survey of 750 homebuyers. Zillow, recently released a report saying although the rental prices may be cooling, the situation remains tough on the ground: rents are still rising and renters are struggling to keep up.

 *CAR, Zillow 3/1/15
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FEBRUARY 2016 SALES STATISTICS FOR LAGUNA BEACH:
186 Active Listings
  47 Pending Sales
  46 Closed Sales from 1/01/16 - 2/29/16

Sales Statistics:
 10 - less than - $1,000,000
 10 - $1,000,001 - $1,500,000
   5 - $1,500,001 - $2,000,000
  11 - $2,000,001 - $2,500,000
   4 - $2,500,001 - $3,000,000
   0 - $3,000,001 - $3,500,000
   0 - $3,500,001 - $4,000,000
   6 - $4,000,001 - $4,500,000

February saw the number of Pending Sales leap by more than 50% but inventory remains very low. Most of the sales activity is below $2.5M.

* CRMLS 03/04/2016

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On last week's Broker Preview Amanda thought this Laguna Beach home on Ceanothus Drive listed for $4,699,000 had some of the best views of the day!

 
Thinking of Buying or Selling?

Click link below to contact Amanda and Pamela

www.HortonsInLaguna.com

FEBRUARY 2016 COASTAL ORANGE COUNTY REAL ESTATE NEWS

 

Just Listed by Amanda and Pamela
1040 Santa Ana St, Laguna Beach
Panoramic Ocean Views, 3 Beds, 2 Baths, $1,279,000
www.1040SantaAna.com



 

2016 THE YEAR OF CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

Demand for "for-sale" housing will grow and will continue to be dominated by older Milennials, those aged 18 to 34. This demographic has the potential to claim a third of home sales in 2016 and represent two million home purchases.

Gen-X, aged 28 to 45 years, is in prime earning years and experiencing improvements in their economic circumstances, which include more relocations and seeking better neighborhoods for their families. Older Boomers, aged 46 to 64 years, are approaching — or already in — retirement and seeking to downsize or lock to a lower cost of living. Together, these two generations will provide much of the suburban inventory that Milennials desire to start their own families.

Renting vs. Buying: There will be continued growth of rental rates and the moderating trend in home prices. The pattern seen in 2015 was largely characterized by a white-hot rental market, and if this continues, more households will likely choose to rent over buy in 2016. For the purchase market, increasing rental rates continue to make it more difficult for potential buyers to save up for a down payment.
 

Mortgage Information: Mortgage rates should also begin their long-anticipated ascent as the Federal Reserve is careful on influencing rates up without negatively impacting economic growth.  

30 year fixed Mortgage rate is currently 3.72%, down big versus one week ago
15 year fixed rate is 3.01%, down big versus one week ago.

*Inman News 2/9/16

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JANUARY 2016 SALES STATISTICS FOR LAGUNA BEACH:
162  Active Listings
  30  Pending Sales
  29  Closed Sales from 1/01/16 - 1/31/16

Sales Statistics:

 9 - less than - $1,000,000
 7 - $1,000,001 - $1,500,000
 2 - $1,500,001 - $2,000,000
 4 - $2,000,001 - $2,500,000
 4 - $2,500,001 - $3,000,000
 0 - $3,000,001 - $3,500,000
 0 - $3,500,001 - $4,000,000
 3 - $4,000,001 - $4,500,000

Sales statistics for the month of January, 2016.  There are only 30 Pending Sales, the lowest since February, 2009 almost seven years ago.  The 29 closed sales in January represents the highest number of January closings in five years.  Go figure!  The number of current Active listings is down to 162 the lowest in three years.  Now is a good time to sell with inventory and interest rates low. 

*CRMLS 2/9/16

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Just Listed and In Escrow with Multiple Offers
by Amanda and Pamela

Panoramic Ocean View Condo
3 Beds/2.5 Baths, $1,399,000
www.21799OceanVista.com

Thinking of Buying or Selling?
Click to contact Amanda and Pamela
www.HortonsInLaguna.com


  

JANUARY 2016 COASTAL ORANGE COUNTY REAL ESTATE NEWS

26 Homes Sold by Amanda and Pamela in 2015
Here's Amanda in front of 461 Linden St, Laguna Beach
Her Last Sale of the Year


Holiday Sales: Real-Estate Deals Often Surge in December


In the last weeks of the year a surge of homeowners made big moves. With fewer listings for sale, some last-minute shoppers were on the hunt for bargains, while others took advantage of tax benefits for year-end planning. For real estate agents vacation is a relative term.
There was a jump in activity in the second week of December. It was fueled by a wave of price cuts and new listings in November, and a fear of what’s to come: January through the end of February is usually 10% to 20% slower than December in most markets.

Mortgage Information: 
The long, steady recovery from the housing crisis and the recession that followed is nearly over, with the consumer lending market, including mortgages, expected to recover completely in 2016.

Newer vintage mortgage loans have been performing at a delinquency of 2.06% for the last few years. A combination of factors such as the funneling of bad mortgage loans through the foreclosure process, an improvement in the employment picture and an uptick in housing prices were needed to get  the real estate back to normal.

*Wall Street Journal 1/5/16, TransUnion 12/09/15
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DECEMBER 2015 SALES STATISTICS FOR LAGUNA BEACH:

176 Active Listings
41 Pending Sales
30 Closed Sales from 12/01/15 - 12/31/15

Sales Statistics:

 1 - less than - $1,000,000
 6 - $1,000,001 - $1,500,000
 9 - $1,500,001 - $2,000,000
 3 - $2,000,001 - $2,500,000

 3 - $2,500,001 - $3,000,000

 3 - $3,000,001 - $3,500,000

 1 - $3,500,001 - $4,000,000

 4 - $4,000,001 - $4,500,000

30 homes sold in December which is 7 more than in November. Makes this December one of the best months of the year. And it is also the month with lowest number of homes sold for under $1,000,000. Making Laguna Beach's entry level median price over $1,500,000.  With the lending guidelines loosening up it's time to dust off the cobwebs and finish your remodel, a robust Spring market is just around the corner.

*Source CRMLS 12/31/15

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May this new year turn all of your dreams turn into reality and all of your efforts into achievements!
 
Visit us at our website HortonsInLaguna.com

 

 

DECEMBER 2015 COASTAL ORANGE COUNTY REAL ESTATE NEWS

Wishing You and Your Family a Wonderful Holiday Season!



Pending Home Sales Bounce Back in October

Pending home sales bounced back from the previous month at the statewide level in October. Pending sales were also significantly higher on an annual basis, portending higher closed escrows in the next couple of months. Home sales exceeded the 400,000 level in October for the seventh consecutive month and posted higher on a year-to-year basis for the ninth straight month.

Mortgage Information:

30 year fixed mortgage rate is currently 3.95%, down slightly versus one week ago.
15 year fixed rate is 3.18%, unchanged versus one week ago.  
ARM’s represent 14.8% of all mortgages, down from 19.5% versus last year, with the 10 year ARM being the hot lender product of choice.
Nationwide, 10.1% of mortgage homes are underwater, in OC there are only 3%.
A December Rate hike seems very likely.

*CAR 12/06/15

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NOVEMBER 2015 SALES STATISTICS FOR LAGUNA BEACH:

198 Active Listings

 52 Pending Sales
 22 Closed Sales from 11/01/15 - 11/30/15

22 Sales for November 2015:

 

198 Active Listings

 52 Pending Sales
 22 Closed Sales from 11/01/15 - 11/30/15

Sales Statistics:

 2 - Less than $1,000,000
 7 - $1,000,001 - $1,500,000
 2 - $1,500,001 - $2,000,000
 2 - $2,000,001 - $2,500,000

 2 - $2,500,001 - $3,000,000

 3 - $3,000,001 - $3,500,000

 0 - $3,500,001 - $4,000,000

 4 – $4,000,000 +

 

22 homes sold in November makes this is the lowest total number of sales for a single month in almost two years.  The longer time it can take for new loan may have had some impact on these numbers as there are still have 52 Pending Sales, about the same as the previous month.  Inventory dropped below 200 for the first time since February, but normal for this time of the year. 

 *Source CRMLS 10/31/15

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NOVEMBER 2015 COASTAL ORANGE COUNTY REAL ESTATE NEWS

 

Close to Beach and Town - 721 Browncroft Rd, Laguna Beach

3 Bedrooms/4 Baths $1,999,000

View this home listed by HortonsInLaguna

 

Strong Sales Lift U.S. Home Prices 5.1% 
 

Solid sales pushed up U.S. home prices at a steady pace in August from a year earlier, a sign that the housing market is improving despite a slowdown in the overall economy.

Home Prices: Prices have risen at a 5% pace for most of this year, which economists see as more sustainable than last year's double-digit gains. Three years of solid hiring and historically low mortgage rates have enabled more Americans to buy homes.
 

Sales: Sales of existing homes jumped 4.7% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.55 million.  The number of existing homes for sales has fallen 3.1% in the past 12 months. In September, the number of available homes was equal to just 4.8 months' of sales, below the six months that is typical of a balanced market.

Mortgage Rates: Low mortgage rates are helping would-be buyers. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.79% last week, its the 13th straight week below 4%.
 

Interest Rate News: Buyers and the industry will have to wait a little longer for the expected rate hike. This is to support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability. So rates will stay at the current 0 to 1/4%. The Federal objective is try to maximum employment at a 2% inflation. They did hint at a possible December rate hike.

LATimes/CAR 10/28/15

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OCTOBER  SALES STATISTICS FOR LAGUNA BEACH:

189 Active Listings 
41  In Escrow
23 Closed Sales from 9/01/15 - 9/30/15

Statistics for October Sales:
  1 Sale $488,000
12 Sales $1-2 million
  4 Sales $2-3 million
  1 Sale  $3,200,000
  2 Sales $5-6 million
  2 Sales $10-11 million

  1 Sale for 17,200,000

*Source CRMLS 11/01/15

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Fabulous Alta Vista Lease - Forever Views

1350 Alta Vista Dr, Laguna Beach

4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3,200 SF $9,775/Month

Contact Pamela and Amanda About This Lease