A Powerful Beginning
Unlike the sluggish start to 2023, this year’s housing market has kicked off with a scarcity of homes available and a much faster pace. With the second-fewest homes to start a year since tracking began in 2004, the Orange County housing market is already hotter than pre-COVID years.
Farmers markets are growing in popularity. There are plenty of booths and crowds of people eager to shop outdoors and support the community even in the middle of winter. Those who have frequented them for years know January is not a great month for fruits. The selection is limited mainly to citrus. It is not the season for peaches, plums, melons, pineapple, berries, or apples. Squeezing between the crowds reveals half-empty shelves with very few options.
That is precisely what buyers are facing at the start of 2024. The Orange County housing shelves are half empty. It is tough being a buyer looking for a home today with higher mortgage rates and very few options to purchase. Demand is muted due to affordability constraints and fewer FOR-SALE signs. Still, the inventory crisis eclipses today’s diminished demand, resulting in a market that already feels hot at the start of January.
After a late but muted inventory peak in 2023 at 2,496 homes, the lowest peak since tracking began in 2004, the inventory dropped by 28% to where it sits today at 1,785. That is the second-lowest start to a year behind 2022. There were 42% more homes available last year, with 2,530 homes available, which is still very low compared to long-term averages.
Excerpt taken from an article by Steven Thomas.
