So what’s happening in the La Habra real estate market today? A whopping 81% of all closings for the month were identified at *distressed sales.

 2009Single Family Home Sales Activity for August:

• 71 homes were for sale, up from 66 last month, and compared to 2/90/120/136/128/153/180/129/149/153/182 previously  
• 41 pending sales in escrow during the month, and compared to 40/43/41/26/30/36/20/19/34/24/18/25/34/37 pending sales.
• 23 homes closed in August down slightly from 28 last month and compared to 39/28/41/30/42/14/25/26 in prior months.  
• $407,000 was the average closed sales price, up slightly from the last two months, average size of 3 bedrooms 2 baths and 1,628 square feet, with an average 56 days on the market.
• 74% of the closings were identified as single family distressed sales, either short sales, in the process of foreclosure or bank repos, up from 48% & 58% for the past two months. 
• Final sales price was 100% of the original asking price, and 101% of the final asking price.  

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Condo Sales:

• 33 condo/townhomes were for sale, slightly more than last month (which was the lowest number for 2009) and compared to 40/36/50/56/65/63/65/71/72/63/82 previously.
• 23 pending sales (in escrow) in August and compared in 20/20/9/7/18/7/6/12/23/11/6/5 for prior months.  
• 14 closed, compared to  19/15/11/18/8/11/10/3/8in prior months.
• $183,000 was the average closed price. 
• ALL but one the condo sold in August was identified as a distressed sales, i.e. short sales, in the process of foreclosure or bank repos, compared to 78% last month.
• The average condo size was 2 bedrooms and 2 baths at 963 square feet, with an average of 108 days on the market. 

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If you’re a home buyer or a home seller it’s essential you have a clear understanding of today’s real estate market when it comes to market conditions in pricing and inventory.

Home Buyers:  Get loan approval in advance!  Once approved you normally have greater strength in negotiating prices. With declining inventory we’ve been seeing multiple offers on the same home. Do yourself a favor, get pre-approved!

For Home Sellers:  It’s about positioning vs. pricing. Getting ahead of others is crucial for a timely sale. Pricing ahead of the competition, including foreclosures/bank owned properties, normally results in a higher sales price in the long-run. 

 Selling your home?  87% of all home buyers begin today with the Internet for their home search. 80% of Orange County is on-line. The average age in Orange County is 36 and I don’t know of a “thirty something” person in Orange County who is not on line.

CA Real Estate Broker’s License #00-402040.

*Distressed sales include short sales, bank owned properties (aka REO’s), others may be sellers in arrears or where a Notice of Default has been filed.