North Orange County real estateis changing, and not getting easier to find REO homes for sale.  September was the first month this year in which the number of closed transactions listed as Short Sales was greater than the number of closed transactions listed as REOs. The chart below indicates the percentages of Short Sales and REOs as a percentage of the current listings, current pending transactions, and as a percentage of the closed sales in the month of September.
 Sept, 2009  
            Short Sales   REOs
Listings   25.85%       4.27%
Pending   56.49%      9.93%
Closed    19.63%      17.81%

North Orange County real estate follows the same patterns(above figures are for Orange County), not enough REO homes for sale, but plenty of Short Sales - at least in comparison.

Check for comparable neighborhood prices at www.foustonline.com, Home searches will help you to see what the market is saying.  Also review neighborhoods to get a comparison of the areas.