South County is a hard place to find a home to buy. The latest O.C. home inventory report says that as of February 18 …
| Hottest | Supply | Deals | Mon. | Yr. ago | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliso Viejo | 133 | 102 | 1.3 | 3.1 | $459k |
| Rancho Santa Marg. | 126 | 95 | 1.3 | 2.1 | $393k |
| Lake Forest | 110 | 76 | 1.4 | 2.2 | $436k |
| Ladera Ranch | 116 | 74 | 1.6 | 2.8 | $825k |
| Foothill Ranch | 45 | 28 | 1.6 | 2.8 | $430k |
| County | Supply | Deals | Mon. | Yr. ago | Price |
| All of O.C. | 8,135 | 3,244 | 2.5 | 4.1 | $1.1m |
| Coolest | Supply | Deals | Mon. | Yr. ago | Price |
| Laguna Beach | 320 | 35 | 9.1 | 19.2 | $3.7m |
| Newport Beach | 497 | 59 | 8.4 | 18.4 | $2.4m |
| Corona Del Mar | 153 | 19 | 8.1 | 21.8 | $3.2m |
| Laguna Woods | 338 | 45 | 7.5 | 10.3 | $221k |
| Newport Coast | 149 | 22 | 6.8 | 16.9 | $4.0m |
- The “hardest” O.C. town to find a home to buy in terms of “market time” (supply of homes for sale vs. new purchase deals inked in past month) is Aliso Viejo at 1.3 months to theoretically sell all for-sale homes at the current buying pace. A year ago, this town was at 3.1 months.
- The 5 “hardest to buy” markets — a south of the 55 group that’s Aliso Viejo plus Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest, Ladera Ranch and Foothill Ranch — combined have a market time of 1.4 months. These markets have only 7% of the supply of homes for sales but are 12% of the deals in escrow.
- “Hardest” market to sell a home in, based on the same math, is Laguna Beach with market time at 9.1 months to theoretically sells all for-sale homes at the current buying pace. A year ago, this town was at 19.2 months.
- The 5 “hardest to sell” markets have a combined market time of 8.1 months and were 18% of the supply of homes for sale but just 5.5% of the homes in escrow.
- All told, countywide market time was 2.5 months last week.
- Note: 35% of the communities tracked by Thomas had “market times” less than 2 months, a clear sellers’ market. Four weeks ago? 18% – and it was 3% a year ago.
- Chart at right looks at the 5 hottest and 5 coldest markets in O.C. as of last Thursday (supply for sale; new deals made; market time in months vs. a year ago and average listing price) by Thomas’ market time math!
