I know that seasonally we see a drop in inventory, but why is there a drop in inventory during this Holiday season. The period of just before Thanksgiving and on tell after New Year is the most sever. In Orange County California we are seeing a 2 percent drop in the last two weeks. That drop equates to about 274 homes. However, we are seeing a weakening of the market, because sellers have either given up or do not want to try to sell their homes in this climate. Inventories have dropped Since September by 741 homes or 6 percent.
Last year the market and the consumer both showed faith that the market was recovering. Due to the tax breaks that were jump starting the real estate activity. Sales are down 18 percent from a year ago. That means that we now have the 4th straight year over year sales decline. It is the slowest October since 2007.
Now, for those who live in my selling area South Orange County we find in today's Orange County Register in an article by Jonathan Lanser a list of the Top 10 quickest to sell communities as put together by Steve Thomas. Portola Hills was the quickest to sell; Foothill Ranch was second; Ladera Ranch was fifth and Lakeforest was seventh; Rancho Santa Margarita was ninth and Mission Viejo was tenth. These area sales made up over 10 percent of the Orange County's supply of homes and 13 percent of local homes in escrow. DataQuick's October home buying results of the deals that closed found that sales in 19 south Orange County Zip codes were off 21 percent.
There is little momentum in the South County which the sellers do feel and therefore have taken their homes off the market.
The problem for the sellers is they usually think that this is a time to remove the home from the market because no one buys a home at this time of year. They also feel that they would prefer to not have anyone in their homes durring the holidays.
This is faulty thinking on the part of a seller. After the first of the year the market gets a glut of homes on the market to sell. All of those that wanted or needed to sell during the holiday season. This creates more competition. Their home is less likely to stand out. A smaller market with fewer homes is more ideal for the seller. As a seller I would be glad that the inventory has dropped this Holiday season. We do not need to know why there is a drop in inventory it is just helpful.
If you would like more information on the positive aspects of selling during the holidays please call me Mark Paulson I will tell you how I have been able to sell homes during the holidays.
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