Harrison K. Long, REALTOR, Broker, expert negotiator

Irvine, California, a city in Orange County with population of about 210,000 people, is a central economy engine in the county with location for the University of California Irvine, and home offices to Broadcom, Blizzard Entertainment, William Lyon Homes, The Irvine Comany, and many others.

Irvine has lovely residential villages where you will find all kinds of properties, apartments, condos, luxury estates, and well maintained neighborhoods with single family detached homes. Many of Irvine's village areas are in high demand and where people want to live. The fantastic Southern California weather, cool Pacific Ocean breezes, are more reasons that people are choosing to move to and live in Irvine.

Current housing market stats for Irvine show that there are 548 homes active for sale. Irvine has 446 homes now in pending status (meaning under contract or in escrow). That's a very large number of pendings as compared to those active for sale and shows a robust buying market.

156 Irvine homes were sold during the past 30 days. Market time saturation at Irvine is about 3.5 months ~ which is the amount of time it will take current market to sell all Irvine active homes assuming no new homes come onto the market.

Because of active homebuying going on, and that balanced market saturation is about 5 months, Irvine continues its trend toward being a sellers market.

We see at Irvine ~ Big demand for homes below $700K. The market is even hotter for homes under $500K and some getting multiple offers. Homebuyer demand is because people want to buy homes at Irvine, the summer buying season, tax incentives for first time buyers, lower asking prices than the peak two years ago, and continued good interest rates on home loans.

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Contact us if you have questions about Irvine homes and Real Estate Market. Thanks. Harrison K. Long, Explore Group, Coldwell Banker Previews, Irvine, CA.

Perfect for people who like localism publications, Newport Beach now has its own COMPLETE HARBOR CRUISING GUIDE (click here) ... showing points of interest from the water at Newport Beach and Harbor.

The City of Newport Beach is so beautiful and has lots of successful and famous people. But this will be its first such "Harbor Cruising Guide" publication, now available for locals and visitors.

Everything you always wanted to know ... Like Where can you tow your boat? Where is the Newport Harbor Pumping Station? Where are the good restaurants?

(I wonder whether they will show location of public showers and restrooms).

The City of Newport Beach website ~ "Complete Harbor Cruising Guide", which is soon to be published in multi-page color brochure. Features will include ...

• Boater's perspective on what they will see from the water
• Public and private yacht clubs
• Newport Harbor geography
• Newport Back Bay and coastal wetlands
• Maps and photos with layout of the harbor
• Markings for "Dock and Dine" restaurants
• Activities at the harbor and back bay
• Big Corona Beach
• Pirate's Cove beaches
• Balboa Pavilion & local landmarks

Check out the COMPLETE HARBOR CRUSING GUIDE at ... NewportBeachca.gov ... under "visitors" and go to Harbor Guide.

Have fun with your travel or vacation to Newport Beach and family and friends activities there.

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Contact us if you have questions about the Newport Beach homes and Real Estate Market. Thanks. Harrison K. Long, Explore Group, Coldwell Banker Previews, Irvine, CA.

Trulia and public access sites are tools for local real estate market data. However, relying on that completely isn't always the best way to go.

I like Orange County Register writer Erika Chavez' articles on local business and real estate. But her today's report about Irvine, California, local real estate market relied on info from Trulia. See the Register article (click here).

• The Trulia info about Irvine, CA, showing more than 900 homes listed for sale August 26, 2009, is way off.

Trulia sometimes has a strange way of digging up and presenting data on homes for sale. Perhaps that includes info for homes that are in preforeclosure (notice of default filed) and foreclosure (notice of trustee sale filed), even when they are not for sale (not listed for sale or otherwise). Trulia doesn't make it clear what their formula is on this.

A home isn't for sale unless and until the owners so indicate, place it on the market FSBO, or when they hire a licensed real estate professional .. a REALTOR ... and list with the MLS.

• There are today just 553 IRVINE homes listed for sale with the SoCal MLS, which includes equity (404), short listings (136 homes), and REOs (13 homes).

We know that Irvine has some FSBO homes for sale and estimate that to be no more than 100. Even with that addition, it's way below what Trulia shows.

• Trulia's report that there are more than 900 Irvine homes for sale and that it is increasing is completely mistaken and off by about 300 units.

Let's expect Trulia and other public access sites to provide better quality local real estate market information.

Realtors have customers and clients at Irvine who will see the Trulia info and get excited about their increased chances of getting a home. But the Trulia numbers aren't true. The Number of homes for sale at Irvine is about the same as last week, which was about the same as last month.

• Realtors and real estate professionals want their customers to have correct information about housing, whether it's from the MLS or from public access sites.

Trulia and other public access web sites are tools for real estate information. Don't always or completely rely on that for information about local markets, homes for sale, sold prices and analytics.

• Contact a licensed REALTOR and real estate professional who will inform you on facts of what homes are available, what is listed for sale in your local market, and what has been sold during the past month or year.

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Contact us if you have questions about the Orange County Real Estate Market. Thanks. Harrison K. Long, Explore Group, Coldwell Banker Previews, Irvine, CA.

Your free foreclosure prevention help is available at Orange County, California, area non-profit agencies.

Troubled borrowers looking for free Foreclosure Prevention Counseling, and for information about the Obama administration's mortgage modification and refinancing programs, can contact a local HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency, to apply for help in working with their mortgage servicer.

Borrowers can also check to see if they qualify for a loan modification and refinance under the Obama plan and apply online at www.makinghomeaffordable.org for help from their mortgage servicer.

Orange County Home Ownership Preservation Collaborative has a list of local housing counseling resources and events at www.ochopc.org.

Also use the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development's website at www.hud.gov.

Orange County area HUD-Approved Agencies include three of Orange County Association of Realtors Community Partners:

• Fair Housing Council of Orange County www.fairhousingoc.org
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County www.nhsoc.org
• Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Orange County www.cccsoc.org.

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Contact us if you have questions about the Orange County Real Estate Market. Thanks. Harrison K. Long, Explore Group, Coldwell Banker Previews, Irvine, CA.

C.A.R. reported today on August 25, 2009, that California July Home Sales Increased 12 Percent, Median Home Price Declined 19.6 Percent (click here for the report).

Quick Facts:

• Existing, single-family home sales increased 12 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 553,910 on an annualized basis.
• The statewide median price of an existing single-family home increased 3.9 percent in July to $285,480, compared with June 2009.
• C.A.R.'s Unsold Inventory Index fell to 3.9 months in July, compared with 6.9 months in July 2008.

Home sales increased 12 percent in July in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home declined 19.6 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported.

"The federal tax credit for first-time buyers played a critical role in the purchase decision of many buyers," said C.A.R. President James Liptak. "Nearly 40 percent of first-time buyers said they would not have purchased a home if the tax credit was not offered.

"Because the tax credit has helped so many first-time buyers become homeowners, it is critical that Congress extends the credit beyond the Dec. 1 deadline, and includes all buyers, not just first-timers."

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 553,910 in July at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 12 percent from the revised 494,390 sales pace recorded in July 2008. Sales in July 2009 increased 8.1 percent compared with the previous month.

The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2009 would be if sales maintained the July pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during July 2009 was $285,480, a 19.6 percent decrease from the revised $355,000 median for July 2008, C.A.R. reported. The July 2009 median price rose 3.9 percent compared with June's $274,740 median price.

"July marked the fifth consecutive month of month-to-month increases in the median price," said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. "This was the largest increase on record for the month of July based on statistics dating back to 1979. The yearly decline in July also was the smallest in the past 19 months.

"Favorable home prices in the low end of the market continue to propel sales of homes priced less than $500,000," said Appleton-Young. "This price segment now accounts for 74 percent of the market share compared with just 43 percent prior to the start of the credit crunch. The high-end segment continues to experience elevated inventories and declines in the median price as financing for jumbo loans and unrealistic sellers challenge the market."

Highlights of C.A.R.'s resale housing figures for July 2009:

• C.A.R.'s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in July 2009 was 3.9 months, compared with 6.9 months (revised) for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
• Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.22 percent during July 2009, compared with 6.43 percent in July 2008, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.82 percent in July 2009, compared with 5.24 percent in July 2008.
• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 39.9 days in July 2009, compared with 47.8 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

Regional MLS sales and price information are contained in the tables that accompany this press release. Regional sales data are not adjusted to account for seasonal factors that can influence home sales. The MLS median price and sales data for detached homes are generated from a survey of more than 90 associations of REALTORS® throughout the state. MLS median price and sales data for condominiums are based on a survey of more than 60 associations. The median price for both detached homes and condominiums represents closed escrow sales.

In a separate report covering more localized statistics generated by C.A.R. and DataQuick Information Systems, 23 of the 398 cities and communities reporting showed an increase in their respective median home prices from a year ago. DataQuick statistics are based on county records data rather than MLS information. DataQuick Information Systems is a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. (The lists are generated for incorporated cities with a minimum of 30 recorded sales in the month.)

Note: Large changes in local median home prices typically indicate both local home price appreciation, and often, large shifts in the composition of housing market activity. Some of the variations in median home prices for July may be exaggerated due to compositional changes in housing demand. The DataQuick tables listing median home prices in California cities and counties are accessible through C.A.R. Online at http://car.org/economics/historicalprices/2009medianprices/jul09medianprices

• Statewide, the 10 cities with the highest median home prices in California during July 2009 were: Los Altos, $1,425,500; Palo Alto, $1,363,000; Saratoga, $1,350,000; Newport Beach, $1,300,000; Manhattan Beach, $1,257,500; Burlingame, $1,250,000; Palos Verdes Estates, $1,132,000; Los Gatos, $1,085,000; Cupertino, $952,000; and Rancho Palos Verdes $945,000.
• Statewide, the cities with the greatest median home price increases in July 2009 compared with the same period a year ago were: Laguna Hills, 40.5 percent; Newport Beach, 13.5 percent; Moorpark, 11.2 percent; Poway, 10.8 percent; San Marcos, 8.6 percent; Emeryville, 7.6 percent; Santa Barbara, 6.3 percent; Arcadia, 5.8 percent; Big Bear Lake, 5.5 percent; and West Hollywood, 5 percent.

For sales and price tables, please visit: http://car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/julysalesandpricereport/.

Leading the way...® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than 163,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

Contacts ~ CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Mark Giberson, 213-739-8304
markg@car.org