Million-dollar O.C. homes 4 times as hard to sell
Jan. 6, 2016 Updated 8:00 a.m.
Orange County?s million-dollar homes became harder to sell than cheaper residences as 2015 wore on.
Homebuyer thirst typically wanes during the holiday period. And the pricier the home, the longer it takes for a sale to occur.
ReportsOnHousing.com?s first tally of the New Year for Orange County home listings shows the seasonal slowdown in selling speed was more pronounced for housing?s upper crust.
The biweekly report tallies a ?market time? that represents the theoretical period it would take to sell the inventory of all listed homes at the current pace of new escrows opened in the past 30 days.
By this math, it took 3.9 times longer to sell an Orange County home priced above $1 million than a cheaper residence as of Thursday ? vs. six months earlier when it took 3.3 times longer to sell at the market?s high end.
Why did that gap grow? First, let?s look at the shrinking supply of homes available for shoppers to purchase.
There were 2,905 homes listed for less than $1 million last Thursday. That?s down 29 percent from six months earlier. A similar drop was seen in million-dollar-plus homes: 1,523 were listed last Thursday, down 33 percent from six months ago.
But demand, measured by new escrows, dipped to a greater degree for pricier homes.
New escrows involving homes listed under $1 million totaled 1,445 as of last Thursday, down 41 percent from six months earlier. But at $1 million or more, the 194 new escrows were off 53 percent from six months earlier.
These supply-and-demand forces put ?market time? for homes listed under $1 million at 60 days as of last Thursday vs. 50 in July. Above $1 million, market time was 235 days last Thursday vs. 163 six months ago.
Overall, Orange County?s market time was 81 days last Thursday vs. 67 in July.
Contact the writer: jlansner@ocregister.com
Jan. 6, 2016 Updated 8:00 a.m.
Orange County?s million-dollar homes became harder to sell than cheaper residences as 2015 wore on.
Homebuyer thirst typically wanes during the holiday period. And the pricier the home, the longer it takes for a sale to occur.
ReportsOnHousing.com?s first tally of the New Year for Orange County home listings shows the seasonal slowdown in selling speed was more pronounced for housing?s upper crust.
The biweekly report tallies a ?market time? that represents the theoretical period it would take to sell the inventory of all listed homes at the current pace of new escrows opened in the past 30 days.
By this math, it took 3.9 times longer to sell an Orange County home priced above $1 million than a cheaper residence as of Thursday ? vs. six months earlier when it took 3.3 times longer to sell at the market?s high end.
Why did that gap grow? First, let?s look at the shrinking supply of homes available for shoppers to purchase.
There were 2,905 homes listed for less than $1 million last Thursday. That?s down 29 percent from six months earlier. A similar drop was seen in million-dollar-plus homes: 1,523 were listed last Thursday, down 33 percent from six months ago.
But demand, measured by new escrows, dipped to a greater degree for pricier homes.
New escrows involving homes listed under $1 million totaled 1,445 as of last Thursday, down 41 percent from six months earlier. But at $1 million or more, the 194 new escrows were off 53 percent from six months earlier.
These supply-and-demand forces put ?market time? for homes listed under $1 million at 60 days as of last Thursday vs. 50 in July. Above $1 million, market time was 235 days last Thursday vs. 163 six months ago.
Overall, Orange County?s market time was 81 days last Thursday vs. 67 in July.
Contact the writer: jlansner@ocregister.com