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Orange County Real Estate Market Update

February 5, 2024

Last year’s closed sales were one of the lowest totals in decades. Homeowners have opted to stay put in their homes, unwilling to sell and give up their incredible, low fixed-rate mortgages.

The limited number of homes coming on the market has exacerbated an already limited number of homes available to buy, which limits the number of pending and closed sales. Higher rates have significantly impacted demand, but so have the lack of sellers. Sales can only increase when more homeowners are willing to participate and sell their hoes. In January, more homes were placed on the market than the prior year for the first time since June 2021.

There were 1982 new FOR-SALE signs in January, up 16% compared to January 2023’s 1705 or an extra 277 sellers. It is still far below the 3-year average before COVID (2017 to 2019), 3054 new sellers, when housing was normal. Still, until mortgage rates fall further, the number of homes coming on the market will remain muted.