John Alesi (Orange County California Real Estate)

The annual Orange International Street Fair is happening this weekend, Sept 4,5,and 6 at Plaza Park in Orange, CA. Most people know this area as the Circle or Old Town Orange, where Chapman and Glassel streets intersect. This event brings thousands of people together to experience foods and crafts from around the globe, music of all varieties and people of every ethnic variety!

Entertainment venues include the Main Stage, All American, Kids Street Stage, German, Greek, Irish, Mexican, and Polynesian stages featuring themed bands all day till 10pm. Food booths and carts will cover the area so come hungry and sample the tastes of the world.

Wear comfortable shoes and be ready to walk. Parking is available in several lots and Chapman University offers several lots. If you chose residential street parking, watch for restrictions in several areas.

Last week I received a call from a client who needed a home that was walking distance to the local elementary school. It got me thinking as many Californian's rely solely on their cars for transportation and many areas are not friendly to walking.

Here's a great resource to help you determine if your neighborhoor, or the neighborhood you a considering moving to, is walkable. Just check out walkscore.com, plug in an address and in a few seconds find out what local services and businesses are within walking distance. The site will tell you names and distances to nearby schools, parks, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. and list the walking distance to each. It will also give your neighborhood a "walkability" rating from 0-100. My neighborhood scored a 51 and rated as "somewhat walkable." For comparison, nearby cities ranked as follows:

• Rancho Santa Margarita - 57
• Mission Viejo - 49
• Lake Forest - 71
• Aliso Viejo - 58

As a follow up to an earlier post about foreclosure sales volume in Orange, County, California, I have included a spreadsheet and chart to show month-by-month changes for both REO (foreclosure/bank owned) properties and non-REO sales, which would include equity sales and short sales.

While sales figures are not complete for the month of July, 2009, the trend indicated that the number of REO sales may be around the 500 units mark or about 40% lower sales volume from the peak in March. Also note that the number of non-REOs has doubled in this 6-month snapshot.

According to the SoCalMLS, equity sales represent the majority of closed transactions in the past 90 days (4/1/09-6/30/09) in the Orange County, CA marketplace.

• Total sales (90 days) - 7184
  
• Equity Sales - 3694 - 51%
• REO Sales - 2148 - 30%
• Short Sales - 1339 - 19%

For comparison, one year ago these were the statistics:

• Total sales (90 days) - 6467
• Equity sales - 4486 - 69.3%
  
• REO sales - 1253 - 19.4%
• Short sales - 734 - 11.3%

So, we are definately gaining momentum in the total number of units sold but the REOs and Shorts are definately gaining market share.

If you are considering a real estate transaction (buying,selling, relocating, investing), you can count on me as the local expert serving Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, Coto De Caza, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano, as well as all of South Orange County.

John Alesi - REALTOR® CENTURY 21 Superstars Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

Here's a quick snapshot of foreclosure sales over the past 60 days in Orange County California. Retail sales of foreclosure (REO) properties according to the Multiple Listing Service are down 11% from 30 days ago. These are sales to home owners and not "courthouse steps" sales.

April 15-May 15, 2009:

• 839 REO retail sales
• 35 DOM (days on market)
• $145,221 Average Price

May 15-June 15, 2009:

• 746 REO retail sales
• 37 DOM
• $335,307 Average Price

For comparison, these are statistics for non-REO (equity and short sale) properties.

April 15-May 15, 2009:

• 1769 retail sales
• 84 DOM
• $587,656 Avg Price

May 15-June 15, 2009:

• 1798 retail sales
• 77 DOM
• $614,717 Average price

The typical REO home buyer is finding fewer choices and MUCH more competition for any property that they choose to make an offer on. I had one seller's agent tell me not to bother offering because he had 70 offers on his REO condo. It looks like there is still a strong demand even though interest rates have risen slightly.

Source: SoCalMLS