OC Housing Report

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Top 5 Trends

It is best to step back from all the narratives, opinions, and noise whirling around the housing market and focus on the trends.  With a third of the year in the rearview mirror, definitive trends have emerged in 2024.

Driving a car in the middle of the night on an unfamiliar road without headlights would be challenging. For buyers and sellers stepping into the real estate scene, the countless YouTube videos, headlines, and neighborhood chatter make it as daunting as driving that car in the dark with no lights. To properly shed light on the current state of the housing market, ignoring the noise and turning to the 2024 trends backed by statistics and data will allow buyers and sellers to navigate the real scene properly.

Here is a breakdown of the “Top 5” Orange County housing trends:

After bouncing along a record-low number of homeowners willing to sell in the high mortgage rate environment, there are finally more new sellers in 2024.  Most homeowners are “hunkering down,” unwilling to move due to their current underlying, locked-in, low fixed-rate mortgage. Since 84% of California homeowners with a mortgage have a fixed rate of 5% or lower, today’s nearly 7.5% mortgage rate prevents many would-be sellers from placing their homes on the market. In 2023, 41% fewer homeowners were willing to sell compared to the 3-year average before COVID (2017 to 2019), or 16,110 missing FOR-SALE signs. That is a large chunk of the market, considering the 3-year pre-pandemic average annual residential closed sales was 29,631. In 2024 through March, there were 37% fewer homeowners compared to the 3-year average.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpt taken from an article by Steven Thomas.

About the Author
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Tim Morissette, also known in the community as Mr. Foothill Ranch, offers over 46 years of real estate experience which has given him an established reputation and unmatched market knowledge. He is joined by his wife, Michele and sons Matt and Jeff, as they continue to offer personal service with an emphasis on achieving his clients’ real estate goals.  This unique combination of traits has led to his proven track record of referral and repeat business. This can be witnessed by the trust of homeowners in Foothill Ranch where he has sold twice as many homes and represented three times more buyers than the next-leading real estate agent for the last 26 years.

As residents of Foothill Ranch since 1994, Tim and Michele are actively involved in the community by fundraising for Foothill Ranch Library, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Cancer Society, Homes for Habitat, Relay for Life, South County Outreach, and the local church and schools. Tim enjoys sponsoring community-wide garage sales, paper shredding and e-waste recycling event, an Easter egg hunt, & a Meet Santa Event.

Tim and Michele are dedicated to their family of four sons, daughter-in-laws, and grandchildren. As a family, they enjoy many outdoor activities which include camping, spearfishing, mountain climbing and exploring the miles of hiking and equestrian trails in Foothill Ranch and the Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park. Tim and his sons are also avid snowboarders and enjoy mountain biking and lobster diving. Family is a top priority in the Morissette household. They look forward to helping more families achieve their dreams of homeownership.