Buyer activity is definitely heating up in south Orange County, with weekend traffic at Open Houses seeming to be getting stronger each week now. Both purchase offers and pending sales are on the increase, with more homes receiving multiple offers and selling in very few days on market.
In some ways, it's feeling like the "old days" of 2003 - 2006, when inventory was very low and demand very high. The difference now is that while overall inventory is considerably higher than before, the lower-end, detached home market is in a more affordable price range, and many more buyers are coming out of the woodwork, having been patiently waiting for a couple of years to see opportunity-time come their way.
It's paying off for many of them with great deals on homes that are in the neighborhood of 30% off from their peak prices. Typically, today's market realities also mean that these buyers are qualifying for their loans with realistic down payments and loan guidelines that make sense, rather than the sub-prime and stated income products that helped to cause all kinds of havoc for all concerned. We're in a healthier mode loan-wise, meaning these buyers are not likely to be losing their homes to foreclosure in the coming years.
As this process unfolds, taking inventory off the market, much of which is "distress property", we are working our way through this inevitable and necessary part of the cycle that has been so much in evidence for the past 2 years or so. Although there is certainly more of the "distress" inventory to hit the market, as this process keeps working and more buyers return to the market, pricing is firming up and the "bottom of the market" is being defined. This creates more confidence in buyers, in turn creating more showings, more offers, more sales and ultimately, a return to a more balanced and healthy market for all. It's inevitable, and it's just a matter of time before we will be looking back on this in a different light. And that's when many folks will be saying "that's when I should have bought a home" again.
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