Home Sales in O.C. Drop 11.7%; Prices Decline 4.7% : Housing: First-quarter figures dash hopes that economy is recovering. Areas with higher- priced homes are hit hardest.
Orange County home sales plunged 11.7% during the first quarter, dashing hopes that the county’s economy is in recovery.
Sales of new and existing houses in Orange County fell to 5,577, according to figures released Wednesday by TRW Redi Property Data. That compared to 6,317 sales in January through March, 1992. The year-to-year decline was sharper here than in the rest of Southern California, the TRW figures showed.
Prices also fell. The average price of houses sold in Orange County during the quarter was $240,663, down from $252,500 for the same period a year earlier. That 4.7% decrease was not as great, however, as the 5.7% price decline recorded for Los Angeles County.
“I think we’re not showing any firm signs of a recovery in the housing market,” said Nima Nattagh, market analyst for TRW at its Riverside headquarters. “That is going to have to wait until the overall economy improves in Southern California.”
Nattagh said areas with higher-priced homes were hit harder than other areas, perhaps explaining why sales fell further in Orange County than in Los Angeles County, with only a 5.9% decrease.
Tim Hamilton, a consultant in Laguna Niguel, said he thinks that the latest figures reflect the time required for resales on the market to be bought. He noted that there was an increase in sales of new homes that may not have closed escrow yet.
“I think by the end of the year supply and demand will kick in, and land prices will start to rise again,” he said.
The Inland Empire also fared poorly in the first quarter, a trend that Nattagh attributed to the poor economy.
Overall, 35,000 homes were purchased in the six-county Southern California region, a drop of more than 8.9% compared to the same quarter a year earlier. That was despite mortgage interest rates that have remained low for more than a year.
For the latest quarter, the average price of homes purchased in Southern California was about $207,000, compared to $216,000 a year earlier. More than 52% of homes sold during the quarter went for less than $175,000, compared to 48% a year earlier.
“In the long term, this bodes well for the Southern California housing market as home ownership is put within the reach of a greater portion of the population,” Nattagh said.
TRW Redi Property Data monitors property transactions from public records in more than 300 counties nationwide and provides information to lenders, appraisers and title insurance companies.
Home Sales in a Slump
The number of houses sold in Southern California continued to decline during the first quarter, with Orange County and the Inland Empire faring worse than the metro Los Angeles area. All homes sold:
County 1st quarter 1992 1st quarter 1993 Change Los Angeles 15,591 14,659 - 5.9% Orange 6,317 5,577 -11.7% San Diego 5,757 5,224 - 9.2% San Bernardino 4,948 4,236 -14.4% Riverside 4,569 3,994 -12.6% Ventura 1,587 1,612 + 1.6% Totals 38,769 35,302 - 8.9%
. . . and Prices Fall
With lower demand for homes, average prices have also fallen, though partly because more expensive houses are losing ground to cheaper ones. Average prices, new and existing homes:
County 1st quarter 1992 1st quarter 1993 Change Los Angeles $245,453 $232,116 -5.4% Orange 252,500 240,663 -4.7% San Diego 210,193 199,983 -4.8% San Bernardino 138,757 134,355 -3.2% Riverside 155,105 146,507 -5.5% Ventura 237,066 228,254 -3.7% Totals $216,870 $207,295 -4.4%
Source: TRW Redi Property Data
