Laguna Beach Home Sales Drop

After a 6% increase in home buying last week, Laguna Beach showed a slight drop in home sales and average market times in the latest report from Steve Thomas of Aliso Viejo-based Altera Real Estate.

As of mid-October, there were 358 homes for sale in Laguna Beach, but only 34 were in escrow. This means that less than a tenth of the city’s total homes on the market are selling at the current pace.

This puts the South Coast city’s market time, the time a typical home is expected to spend on the market, at 10.53 months—slightly more than the 10.31 months recorded at the same time last year.

Of the 34 homes sold in Laguna Beach, 26 were classified as distressed deals; that is, either short sales, foreclosures, or REO sales. This puts the distressed-home ratio at 7%, which is typical of high-end coastal cities including nearby Newport Beach.

The rest of Orange County is also experiencing increased market times, with a year-over-year increase from 2.48 to 4.12 months. Out of 11,493 homes for sale, 4,030 were in escrow at the time of the report.

However, compared to two years ago, both Laguna Beach and overall O.C. have improved—O.C. market times were at 4.76 months back then, while Laguna Beach showed a whopping 18.11 months.

Laguna Beach is home to about 3.1% of the Orange County home inventory but only 1.2% of the sales currently in escrow. It also has 0.6% of the country’s distressed deals over the past week.

Market times have been slow for Laguna Beach for the past year and a half, a result of increased homeowner distress and low buyer activity due to its high median prices. Homeowners and agents are optimistic, however, that upcoming government programs will help boost buyer activity in the next few months.

 

Earlier in Laguna Beach Real Estate News:
Charge Your Electric Car in Laguna Beach
More Luxury Homes Hit Laguna Beach Real Estate Market
Oldest House In Laguna Beach To Be Rehabbed