Laguna Beach Home Sales Slow Down Again

After picking up pace last month, Laguna Beach real estate has slowed down yet again. Market times went up from 10.32 months to 11.03 months in the past two weeks, making it the third slowest market in Orange County.

The city's market times are also up from four weeks ago, when homes stayed on the market an average of 10.97 months. However, it's still down significantly from 2008 and 2007, when market times were 15.74 and 31.44 months respectively.

Laguna Beach became O.C.'s slowest housing market a few weeks ago with a market time of close to 12 months, but rebounded slightly as other cities like Newport Beach fell into a similar slump.

Currently, the two slowest markets in the county are Corona del Mar and Newport Beach. Corona del Mar has an average market time of 11.53 months, while Newport Beach is faring slightly better at 11.05 months.

Dana Point and San Clemente, two other major real estate markets, also slowed down in the same period. Market times for Dana Point went from 5.46 months to 6.19 months, while San Clemente slowed from 3.41 months to 3.96 months.

High selling prices are believed to play a major role in the slowdown, not just for Laguna Beach but for most South Coast cities. With homes valued at an average of $4 million, there simply aren't enough buyers to sustain market activity, according to experts.

The data comes from a biweekly report by Steven Thomas of Altera Real Estate. Thomas says the drop is typical for this time of the year, although active inventory has been falling uncharacteristically since March.

 

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