O.C. Home Sellers Expecting Top Dollar, HomeGain Says

Orange County home sellers are setting their sights high when it comes to setting the prices of their houses--and they’re often getting it.

The latest monthly study by HomeGain.com Inc., which matches sellers with Internet real estate agents, shows that in May, the latest month for which data are available, Orange County sellers expected an average of $315,000 for their homes. That’s 7.4% higher than the average price they expected in April and the second highest price in the nation, behind San Francisco.

County sellers anticipate getting about $100,000 more for their home than the national average of $212,000, the survey said.

A slew of housing studies have shown that prices for county real estate continue to grow at a pace that surprises analysts. But price expectations are fading in much of the country, where sellers in May said their homes would attract 4% less money than in April.

“These could be signs that home sellers are less confident that market conditions will remain in their favor,” said Bradley Inman, chief executive of HomeGain in Emeryville.

The survey was based on answers from 3,000 home sellers who registered in May as HomeGain.com members on the company’s Web site, www.homegain.com.