Santa Ana: Real Estate Market Report

It’s been three months since I last did a real estate market report for Santa Ana. In the last report, I struggled to find good news. I was able to report that the number of days the average house was on the market was down, which could be seen as a good thing. Well, this time around, I’ve got nothing good to report. The forecast is all doom and gloom. Unlike Tustin and some other cities, we’re not seeing any signs of a turnaround for a long while.

Thanks to Altos Research, we see that the median single family home price continues to plummet. The current median price is $378,238, down 15% (from $443,171) in just three months. In looking at Redfin’s new market data page (so cool), we see the median list price for homes is $350k ($185k for condos) while the median sold price is $335k ($172k for condos). With these drastic drops, Santa Ana continues to be the poster child for sub-prime lending gone bad.

Meanwhile, inventory levels and days on the market continue to be on the rise. According to Altos, we’ve now got 1,404 properties on the market (up from 1,222). The average property has been on the market for about 126 days (up from 98 days). So, let’s see, we’ve got more houses on the market, and we’ve got them not moving, just sitting there. Yeah, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the median price is on a roller coaster that only goes down.

Redfin data is showing 1,060 homes and 676 condos on the market, both being on the market for 88 days. The graph below actually shows a decrease in inventory in the last few months. However, the graph does not yet have August included. There’s going to be some variance in the way that Altos counts versus the way Redfin does (FSBOs included/not included, etc.) as well as how the graphs depict the data, but both data sets are telling the same story… not good.

Just when I was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel for the market with Tustin’s median price being up last week, Santa Ana has gone and flipped the switch making it dark and gloomy again. Thanks, thanks a lot Santa Ana.

Inventory (per Redfin)

Median Price and Median Inventory (per Altos Research)

Properties Just Getting Their Feet Wet

1419 W Civic Center Dr, Santa Ana 92703; 1 bed/1 bath; 987 sq ft house; 7,350 sq ft lot; $215,000

2725 W Lingan Ln, Santa Ana 92704; 4 bed/2 bath; 1,426 sq ft house; 5,865 sq ft lot; $237,500

3714 Alder St, Santa Ana 92707; 3 bed/2 bath; 1,321 sq ft house; 6,000 sq ft lot; $427,500

Properties That Are Sinking to the Bottom

519 S Broadway, Santa Ana 92701; 3 bed/2 bath; 1,308 sq ft house; 6,250 sq ft lot; $574,350; 481 days on the market

901 S Cypress Ave, Santa Ana 92701; 3 bed/1 bath; 1,014 sq ft; 7,567 sq ft lot; $300,000; 489 days on the market

821 S Garnsey St, Santa Ana 92701; 3 bed/1 bath; 1,130 sq ft house; 6,175 sq ft lot; $249,900; 595 days on the market