Craig Dahl Orange County RE Broker

The Toshiba Classic makes it annual return to Newport Beach, with events running from March 12th to March 18th. The Champions Tour event is always a favorite for the locals as well as for the Champions Tour Players. The event will be held at the Newport Beach Country Club, with the Monday Pro-AM starting off the week. The actual Champion Tour play starts on Friday March 16th and ends on Sunday the 18th.

For the complete schedule of events or to purchase tickets check out Toshiba Classic. Plan on the a little more traffic around Fashion Island, with more people enjoying the local eateries. You may even see your favorite player out enjoy some of Newport Beach's favorite spots. Fred Couples, always a local favorite will be in the field as will Nick Price who is back to defend his title in 2011.

An interesting note, while most of the players will stay at one of the local hotels either in Newport Beach or Newport Coast's Pelican Hill. Some of the players own homes in Newport Beach and the surrounding area. Others rent Irvine Terrace Homes which is located across from Newport Beach Country Club and Sea Island Condos which is located on the golf course.

Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton was recent nominated for the Blue Ribbon Award, the nations top prize for individual campuses. Check out the Orange County Register for more information on this nomination. This latest nomination is just the latest in a long history of academic excellence. Sunny Hills has won numerous local, state and national honors over the years.

Fullerton is very fortunate to have an excellent school system with not only Sunny Hills High being highly honored but Troy High School has also been highly honored over the years. Most recently Troy High was named the #1 School in Orange County by the Orange County Register in 2010.

Obviously high quality schools play an important role in the home buying process for many home buyers. For those looking at homes for sale in Fullerton, they are fortunate to know they can look for homes near Sunny Hills High School or Homes near Troy High School. As a graduate of Sunny Hills High School I do have a personal bias.

Huntington Beach condos are an ideal choice for those looking for second homes. Huntington Beach has numerous condo developments which offer great opportunities for second home shoppers. Condos in Huntington Beach are ideal as a second home with its great weather, entertainment options of the Downtown Huntington Beach area and easy maintenance.

Huntington Beach has great year round weather but it is certainly a huge summer destination for those in areas such as inland Los Angeles County, inland Orange County and Riverside County, not to mention those coming from Arizona. Huntington Beach is a quick drive from these Southern California locations which during the summer will hit 90 to 100 degrees, while Huntington Beach tends to offer a constant 75 to 80 degrees in the summer months. Many from Arizona love Huntington Beach as a way to escape the 100 plus degree Arizona summers.

There are many Downtown Huntington Beach Condos for sale which are located within walking distance to the restaurants and nightlife in the Downtown area. There are also Huntington Beach condos available in the Huntington Harbour area if your taste more to the nautical side.

One of the biggest benefits of owning a Huntington Beach Condo as a second home is the fact it is condo. Condos offer a low maintenance option for the second home owner and anyone who has owned a second home will agree to the importance of low maintenance in a second home. No need to worry about taking care of a pool, no need to mow the lawn, the second home simply shows up and enjoys all the benefits of the condo development.

The Aliso Viejo real estate market is dominated by condo sales and short sales. Over the past 90 days ending January 31, 2012 there were 163 Aliso Viejo homes sold as compared to 166 sales last year, of these sales 119 or 73% were condos and 62 or 38% were short sales. The average price over this time for a Aliso Viejo home was $391,501, this is down 5.05% from the same period one year earlier. The price for square foot, the best measuring stick of the market was $240.99 per sq ft compared with $260.12 per square foot from the prior year, this is a decline of 7.35% year over year.

While short sales accounted for 38% of the sales in the past 90 days, they make up a much higher percentage of the active ALiso Viejo Homes for sale. There are currently 163 Aliso Viejo active in the local MLS, however when pending, back up status are included the real number of Aliso Viejo homes for sale is 369. This second number includes pending sales and those accepting back up offers, this is a better number as it includes those properties which are short sales which are currently negotiation with the bank for short sale approval. Of the total of 369 homes for sale in Aliso Viejo, 222 or 60.2% are short sales. The 369 listings represent 5 months of Aliso Viejo inventory at the current sales pace.

The Laguna Niguel Real Estate Market showing mixed signals. For the 90 day period ending January 31, 2012 there were 203 sales in Laguna Niguel versus 198 sale for the same period last year. The average sales price for all Laguna Niguel homes sold during this period was $563,191 versus $561,777. Both of these indicators show a fairly flat real estate market year over year, the average price per square foot show the real picture. Price per square foot is the best indicator of market trends, the most recent data shows a average price per square foot of $261.45 versus $282.89 from the year prior for a decline of 7.58%.

Looking at the active Laguna Niguel listings also show mixed signals. Currently there are 263 Laguna Niguel active listings within the local MLS, this equates to 3.89 months of inventory. Of that 263 Laguna Niguel Homes for Sale, there are only 22 REO's (bank owned homes) and 55 short sales. This would indicate that short sales make up only 21% of the over all Laguna Niguel Market. Yet when you examine the data more closely and include all Laguna Niguel short sale listings including those off the market yet still negotiating with the bank, it changes the picture quite a bit. There are in reality 518 Laguna Niguel homes currently listed included pending sales and short sales in negotiating, of these 218 are short sales, which is 42.7% of all Laguna Niguel Homes for sale.

One sale within the past 90 days did stand out in Laguna Niguel, 31941 Monarch Crest a custom home located within Monarch Point closed at $4,405,000. This home offered almost 8,000 square feet, many high quality upgrades and tremendous ocean view. This closing is an indication that there is still demand for the high end real estate of Laguna Niguel.