O.C. Real Estate Sales Drop : Property: Preliminary figures for July suggest the county’s housing market is still in a slump.

Sales of all real estate in Orange County fell 31% during July, a sign that the housing market here remains in a slump, according to preliminary figures provided by a real estate data company.

Home sales, which account for 70% of overall real estate transactions, have fallen nine straight months in the county, according to TRW REDI Property Data in Anaheim, which provided the figures. A total of 2,095 property transfers were recorded during July, compared to 3,053 transactions during the same month last year.

“It’s a lack of confidence--that’s why buyers are holding back,” said Ed Albers, president of the California Assn. of Realtors, a statewide trade association with 106,000 brokers. “Orange County’s bankrupt, the state can’t get a budget together--how can people remain confident enough to buy a house?”

Economic uncertainty coupled with the county’s bankruptcy filing on Dec. 6 have buyers sitting on the fence although mortgage rates are low and the prices of homes are beginning to stabilize.

“The buyers just aren’t around, and if they are around they don’t want to buy in Orange County,” said Patricia Hampton, a broker with Help-U-Sell of Irvine.

“When the bankruptcy first hit I thought, ‘No big deal.’ But it has really hurt us. People who already live here are buying and moving up but others are looking away from Orange County,” she said.

July sales figures for the state or other counties, such as Los Angeles or San Diego, were not yet available, TRW REDI said.

Although the real estate numbers do not include the last four days of July and are not limited to home sales, they are a strong signal that home sales will remain depressed the rest of the year in Orange County, analysts said. Last month, overall real estate sales, which include industrial and office building sales, were down 34%, and home sales were down 17%.

“There is just a fundamental weakness in the market,” said Nima Nattagh, an analyst with TRW REDI. “People think prices are still soft and declining so they are holding back any decision to buy.”

Still, other real estate brokers, especially those in South County, said they have seen an uptick in sales during the past few months and expect things to improve dramatically by the end of the year.

“We have some making up to do--the first few months things were down, but it’s coming back,” said Bill Plattos, general manager of First Team Real Estate in Costa Mesa.

“We’re going to have a strong second half. The bankruptcy thing--well nobody got killed, so people are now starting to buy. It’s an investment for the future,” Plattos said.