Home Prices Up Again, but a Softening Is Noted : July Average Is $202,116 in TRW Survey; Mortgage Rate Increases May Loom

Orange County home prices rose again in July for the largest jump in more than a year, but there are signs the market may be losing steam.

The average home price rose to $202,116 in July, said TRW Real Estate Services, up 27% from $158,937 a year ago. Prices rose 1.6% between June and July.

The number of homes sold dropped sharply. July homes sales in Orange County fell 15% to 5,467 from 6,412 in June.

But that is not unusual: Sales ordinarily drop in July, since June is typically one of the year’s hottest months for home sales.

What is unusual is the indication that the market may be cooling slightly after months of heavy demand and big price increases.

Fixed Rates at 11%

The possibility that mortgage rates may soon rise could mean some buyers will be pushed out of the market. Rates currently are about 11% for fixed-rate mortgages.

And TRW said that when it calculates a median home price instead of an average, prices actually fell slightly from June to July.

Orange County’s median home price--the price at which an equal number of homes sold for more and an equal number sold for less--dropped almost 1% during the month, from $204,815 to $203,194.

Those figures show a definite cooling of the market during July, the company said.

The TRW figures include both new and used houses and condominiums and are the most comprehensive of the local housing price surveys released each month.

The California Assn. of Realtors, which calculates a median price each month for single-family resale homes only, estimated the price in June at $211,038 in Orange County.