MARK GUNDLACH

For the week that ended Thursday, the average rate in Orange County for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan up to the old conforming limit of $417,000 fell to 5.912 percent with a one-point fee. That's down from 5.922 percent last week. Yet the average on a similar jumbo loan - one above the old limit but not sold to a government-sponsored buyer - rose to 7.023 percent, up from 7.007 percent last week. The gap between the rates grew to 1.1 percentage points after falling for three straight weeks from a peak of 1.2 percentage points. Also, the average rate on a 30-year loan fixed for one year fell to 5.198 percent with a one-point fee. That's also up to the old conforming limit.

This post is to inform those in the South Orange County area about the trends of the market in which they live. For those of you stopping by from outside of this market, this can be a great tool to guage whether or not you would like to explore any opportunities in our market. For agents from outside the area who may be working with clients looking to make a move in or out of the South Orange County area, this can be an invaluable tool for you as well. Enjoy!

Mark Gundlach
Real Estate Consultant
714-654-3750

WWW.PROMARKTEAM.COM

It would take 7.5 months for buyers to gobble up all the Orange County homes listed for sale last week at the current pace of deals - the lowest level of home inventory since last April, according to market watcher Steve Thomas.

Thomas, of Re/Max Real Estate Services in Aliso Viejo, every two weeks calculates "market time," a benchmark of how many months it theoretically takes to sell all the inventory in the local MLS for-sale listings at the current pace of pending deals being made. Thomas' inventory measure was at 6.09 months a year ago.

A key reason for the improvement: The latest count of deals in escrow is 2,083, up 109 percent from Jan. 19's wintertime low. Thomas also says new loan limits are having an impact on demand. "Lenders are scrambling in preparation for the new conventional and the FHA loan limits of $729,750, which are just beginning to hit the market," he said.

"At 10 percent down, the old $417,000 limit only covers 37 percent of the current active inventory. The new limits now encompass a staggering 75 percent of the inventory," Thomas said. His latest biweekly inventory count finds the number of dis- tressed properties - homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales - was 5,221 last week, an increase of 164 vs. two weeks earlier, or a 3.2 percent change. As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 33.4 percent of the market last week vs. 32.8 percent two weeks earlier.