Sales volume for September in Lake Forest, California is up from last year! This year, 62 homes and condos closed escrow between September 1 and September 30, compared to only 50 during the same period last year. The distressed sales (short sales & foreclosures) represented 53% of the sales compared to 42% last year.
The price range of the 30 single homes sold went from a low of $398,000 up to $910,000. The average price was $510,079 at $265 per square foot.
For condos, the total number sold was 32 with a closed price range of $113,000 to $410,000. The average sold price was $241,234 at $224 per square foot.
There are 200 “Active” listings today on the MLS ranging from from $104,900 for a one-bedroom condo up to $1,650,000 for a custom “point home” on the lake front. If you have been thinking about buying a home in Lake Forest, there are a lot of choices right now!
The end of the national first time buyer tax credit, combined with the beginning of the new California tax credit (started 5/1/2010) was likely a very significant factor in this! I am betting that there were several escrows scheduled to close in late April that ended up sliding into the early part of May to take advantage of a potential “double dip.” The April sales totaled only 49 properties, while May included 59 – a 20% increase in volume!
Here’s the breakdown of sales for the month of May 2010:
24 at average sale price of $240,770 ($201.35/square foot) and 55 days on the market. The range was from $115,000 to $355,000. 14 of these were short sales or foreclosures and closed at an average of 3% over the list price.
35 at average sale price of $524,011 ($258.60/square foot) and 68 days on the market. The range was from $385,000 to $852,000. The short sales and foreclosures made up 50% of these properties and 9 of them closed above the list price, averaging 102% of asking!
59 at average sale price of $408,794 and 64 days on the market and an average of 100% of list price!
For more details about Lake Forest real estate, or to find a home in Lake Forest, visit my Lake Forest website!
The September closed sales number of 47 properties was 19% below the number of sales in September 2008, when 58 were sold. The good news was that the average price per square foot only fell 4% since then! There may be a few more closings reported in the next few days, so I may update this to show the late closings.
The numbers are in, and the real estate market in Lake Forest, California is definitely more active this year than last year when only 28 properties were sold. Sales more than doubled with 69 closed sales in Lake Forest for the month of March 2009. The prices ranged from a low of $122,000 for a one-bedroom condo, up to $711,000 for a 3 bedroom lake front home.
The average price (add up all the sold prices, and divide by the 69 properties that sold) was $339,168, or $231 per square foot. This was down almost 20% from the average price of $412,000 and $276 per square foot in March 2008. The house pictured below is the closest to the average, but really closed at $325,000 after being reduced from an original list of $379,000.
The median price of the closed sales was $370,000, at $323.14/square foot! (To find the median, list all properties in order of sale price, and find the middle value, which was the #35 property.) That property was a bank-owned home and was listed for $325,500 and sold in 7 days! Note to bargain hunters - just because it is bank-owned, doesn't mean that other people might not want to bid the price up!
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The market continues to be busy in the lower end of the price range, and bank-owned and short sales are making up about 61% of all closed sales in Orange County.
Today, there are a total of 11,577 homes for sale in Orange County. Of those, 4783 (42%) are labeled as either bank owned or short sales. Of the 4363 that are currently in escrow, 2925 (68%) are distressed. In the last 30 days, 1018 (61%), of the 1653 closings were distressed.
Buyers are looking for the best values that they can find, and the best priced homes are usually bank owned. Short sales are closing more often than in the past, but it is still frustrating for a buyer to make an offer, then have to wait weeks or months to get an answer from the lender. It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, the President's new stimulus plan will have.
The latest foreclosure listings are now posted on my other blog for selected cities or areas in South Orange County. If you are looking in an area that I haven't included, please let me know and I'll run the list just for you!
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Specializing in Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Trabuco Canyon, and surrounding areas of South Orange County.
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