In June and July, we saw a dip in the overall housing statistics in Orange County.Certain indicators led to decreased home buying, fewer transactions, and lower buyer sentiment. However, with the data for August now out, we can see a significant increase over the last couple months. The indicators below show why we are optimistic for how the rest of the year will turn out, and hoping for the momentum to lead into 2017 as well:
1) Double-Digit Increase in Home Sales between July and August
Even though July was a rather slow month for the otherwise hot Orange County real estate market, August show a shift in this trend. Between July and August, total number of home sales increased more than 10%, to a total of 804 homes sold, as compared to 729 in July.
2) Stability & Consistency in a Growing Market
Whereas many are still overly-cautious (and rightfully so) about the potential of another oncoming housing bubble, these concerns can be put aside. So far, in 2016, we’ve seen lenders and bankers adhere strictly to their regulations. Coupled with careful homebuyers, this has led to a positive and stable housing market growth.
3) Buyer Demand Still High
Despite the drop in home sales in June and July, August’s increase shows that homebuyers are still quite interested. Understandably, these buyers were not too active in the summer months, but August showed prospective homebuyers resurfacing yet again, with the buyer demand in Orange County increasing roughly 5%.
4) Slight Increases in Median Home Price
Although not the largest jump we’ve seen this year, August median home prices increased a little over 2% as compared to the previous month. When combining this trend with the increase in home sales, and the clear stability, the growth is seen as not only healthy, but also a potentially optimistic sign for the coming months.