Biggest Discounts April Update

Time for another update on where buyers are currently getting the biggest discounts off asking price. Our goal in sharing this data is to help potential buyers to know which neighborhoods are softer in terms of sale price discounts off list price, to better equip you when making an offer, and help you know where to look for potential bargains.

In the chart below, we have taken all sales data from the last two months in Orange County and sorted it by zip code. We calculated the overall difference between the sale price and the list price. Note that this reflects the final list price, after all price drops in the listing. Any zips with fewer than ten sales are excluded from the top and bottom ten rankings, but interested readers may download the full data summary in Excel format (xls).

For a quick look at where a given zip code is located, just type it into the Redfin search box, or drop by the handy USNaviguide.com zip code map.

Here are the top ten zip codes with the largest overall discount:

At 3.7%, the overall discount for Orange County came in slightly higher than last month’s 3.5%. 92651 (Laguna Beach) moved from #7 to #1, pushing 92663 (Newport Beach) down to #2 this month.

Here are the ten zip codes with the smallest discounts:

Of the 2,995 sales we tracked in the 1.5-month period, 274 homes sold for 10% or more off the asking price, while 287 homes sold for 5% or more above the asking price.

We’ve been tracking the discount trend for five months now, and aside from our first update, we have seen Orange County’s overall discount hold steady at 3.5%-3.7% off. It will be interesting to see what the spring and summer bring to these stats.

Case-Shiller: Prices Still Falling in OC, Rate of Decline Slows

Let’s check in on the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). Here’s a summary of the latest data for the Los Angeles area, which includes LA and Orange Counties:

January 2009
Month to Month: Down 2.9%
Year to Year: Down 25.8%
Change from Peak: Down 39.2% in 28 months

Since Case-Shiller lumps LA and Orange Counties together, I won’t repeat everything I wrote on the LA Sweet Digs blog. For more analysis and some graphs of the LA Case-Shiller data, check out my post over there: Case-Shiller: Rate of LA Home Price Drops Continues to Slow.

March City/Neighborhood Price Reductions

Let’s take our monthly look at which cities and towns have the most price reductions.

The following charts show the percent of MLS, FSBO or REO listings that were price-reduced at some point before leaving the market (either sold or removed unsold from the market) in the past 90 days. Cities/towns or neighborhoods in which the number of homes taken off the market was too small to provide believable estimates are excluded from ranking.

For those that are interested, I have uploaded the full data set in Excel format here. The downloadable Excel file also includes charts showing the top ten cities/towns/neighborhoods with the least reduced-price listings.

First up are the top ten cities with the most price-reduced listings:

Of the 40 cities/towns we ranked in Orange County this month, 21 (53%) had price-reduced ratios of fifty percent or more. Much of the top ten was the same as last month, with the familiar names Rossmoor, Coto de Caza, and San Clemente coming in the top three positions.

Getting a little more granular, let’s look at the top ten Orange County neighborhoods for price reductions:

Of the 42 neighborhoods we ranked in Orange County this month, 16 (38%) had a price-reduced ratio of fifty percent or more. The Highlands shot from #3 last month (with 63% reduced) to #1 this month with a whopping 74% reduced. Various Huntington Beach neighborhoods also made repeat appearances in the top ten. These are the neighborhoods where you might want to look for sellers that are more anxious to sell.

We’re still seeing a degree of consistency in which neighborhoods and cities have the most price reductions. Are sellers in these locations just not very good at finding the right market price in the first place, or are they so anxious to sell that they drop the price early and often? Either way, the regions with the really high percentage of reduced-price homes are probably a good place to go bargain-hunting.

Biggest Discounts March Update

Let’s have an update on where buyers are currently getting the biggest discount off the asking price. Our goal in sharing this data is to help potential buyers to know which neighborhoods are softer in terms of sale price discounts off list price, to better equip you when making an offer, and help you know where to look for potential bargains.

In the chart below, we have taken all sales data from the last two months in Orange County and sorted it by zip code. We calculated the overall difference between the sale price and the list price. Note that this reflects the final list price, after all price drops in the listing. Any zips with fewer than ten sales are excluded from the top and bottom ten rankings, but interested readers may download the full data summary in Excel format (xls).

For a quick look at where a given zip code is located, just type it into the Redfin search box, or drop by the handy USNaviguide.com zip code map.

Here are the top ten zip codes with the largest overall discount:

The overall discount for Orange County came in the same as last month at 3.5%. Last month’s most discounted zip code 92637 slipped a few places to #5 on the list, with 92663—a newcomer to the top 10—jumping into #1 this month.

Here are the ten zip codes with the smallest discounts:

Of the 3,392 sales we tracked in the 2-month period, 51 homes sold for more than 20% off the asking price, while 882 homes sold for more than asking.

As a whole, discounts in Orange County seem to be holding steady. As we continue to watch this data we will be able to get a better picture of what sale-to-list discounts tell us about the overall health of the local real estate market. Once we get enough data points, we’ll be able to plot the overall discount trend on a line chart for an interesting picture of the market.

The Top Orange County Real Estate Blogs

We’ve been doing some research on Orange County real estate blogs and thought I’d compile a list of our favorites.

Top Real Estate Blogs

• Lansner on Real Estate is a machine cranking out lots of stories. He’s also all over Twitter too.
• Mortgage Insider by Matthew Padilla covers the mortgage side of things.
• Huntington Homes by Marilyn Kalfus has a narrower focus on Huntington Beach.
• Irvine Housing blog has not just a very active blog but also very active forums.
• The Rancid Truth holds nothing back!
• South OC Tracker keeps a close eye on listings.
• Sweet Orange is just getting started with a focus on Irvine and Costa Mesa.

Good Local/Neighborhood Blogs

• OC Met Blog
• Greetings from Huntington Beach
• Greater Orange News Service
• O.C. History Roundup info & photos from the old days
• Into politics? There’s lots of options, Orange Juice Blog, Red County, Powder Blue Report and the Liberal OC

What have we missed? What blogs do you all follow to stay on top of the Orange County real estate market?

What Percentage of the Market is REO? (12% – 16% on the Coast)

With all the talk about foreclosures, Redfin stats man Mose Andre took the time to measure what percentage of single-family homes for sale in Southern California were being sold by banks (REO listings). As you would expect, foreclosures were higher the further you move away from the major cities:

• Ventura County: 11.6%
• Los Angeles County: 16.3%
• Orange County: 11.9%
• San Diego County:  12.9%
• North Riverside County: 27.4%
• South Riverside County: 24.6%
• San Bernadino County: 47.3%

We also graphed the incidence of bank-owned listings as a trend over time, shown below (click to enlarge), and charted how the price-per-square-foot of listings that weren’t being sold by banks actually increased, which we attribute to a growing chasm between low-quality REO listings and high-quality non-REO listings. The price-per-square-foot calculations exclueded homes that had no listed square footage…

In Ventura County, REO listings have actually declined…

In LA, REO listings have continued to increase…

And the same has been true in Orange County, except for a sharp drop in February.

San Diego has, like Ventura County, seen a decline in the relative incidence of REO listings.

And so has Riverside County, in the north…

And especially in the south…

San Bernadino though is still a disaster zone…

Case-Shiller: Orange County Home Price Drops Slow Again

It’s time once again for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). Here’s a summary of the Los Angeles area, which includes LA and Orange Counties:

December 2008
Month to Month: Down 2.5%
Year to Year: Down 26.4%
Change from Peak: Down 37.4% in 27 months

Since Case-Shiller lumps LA and Orange Counties together, I won’t repeat everything I wrote on the LA Sweet Digs blog. For more analysis and some graphs of the LA Case-Shiller data, check out my post over there: Case-Shiller: Los Angeles Home Price Drops Slow 2 Months in a Row

February City/Neighborhood Price Reductions

Let’s take our monthly look at which cities and towns have the most price reductions.

The following charts show the percent of MLS, FSBO or REO listings that were price-reduced at some point before leaving the market (either sold or removed unsold from the market) in the past 90 days. Cities/towns or neighborhoods in which the number of homes taken off the market was too small to provide believable estimates are excluded from ranking.

For those that are interested, I have uploaded the full data set in Excel format here. The downloadable Excel file also includes charts showing the top ten cities/towns/neighborhoods with the least reduced-price listings.

First up are the top ten cities with the most price-reduced listings:

Of the 40 cities/towns we ranked in Orange County this month, 24 (60%) had price-reduced ratios of fifty percent or more. Portola Hills, Coto de Caza, Newport Coast, Rossmoor, and San Clemente all carried over from last month’s top ten to this month.

Getting a little more granular, let’s look at the top ten Orange County neighborhoods for price reductions:

Of the 38 neighborhoods we ranked in Orange County this month, 13 (34%) had a price-reduced ratio of fifty percent or more. On the neighborhood level, the Huntington Beach area continued to have a strong showing.

There is definitely some consistency in the number of homes seeing price reductions month to month in the cities and neighborhoods around Orange County. If finding a good deal on a home is important to you, these neighborhoods might be a good place to start, as higher ratios of reduced-price homes indicate sellers that need to sell and are willing to lower the price to do so.

Meet Redfin’s Partner Agents in the Inland Empire

Our customers keep asking us, “When are you coming to my area?” Well, the wait is over for folks in North and South Riverside, Pomona, and San Bernardino. Redfin is now partnering with agents in outlying areas beyond our local agents’ reach to bring our values of fanatical service, data-driven performance and better value to your neighborhood.

Many Applied, Few Were Chosen

We put our partners through the ringer by conducting in-person interviews and requiring at least three customer referrals; the average Redfin partner in the greater Los Angeles area has completed over 320 deals. All of our partner agents have embraced Redfin’s transparency ideal: you see every transaction and every customer review, good and bad. Just like working with Redfin, there’s no obligation. In addition to getting great service, you’ll also save money — usually around $1,000-$2,000.

Learn more about Redfin’s partner agent program by reading Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman’s blog post.

If you’re an agent and you’d like to become a Redfin partner, please get in touch.

Sign up to be notified when we come to your area because in the next three months, Redfin will be adding partner agents in Coachella, Santa Clarita and Palmdale.

Meet Our Partner Agents Serving Riverside, Pomona and San Bernardino

	Derek Serving Pomona Valley, North Riverside County, San Bernardino Valley Homes Closed: 1349+ Experience: 23 years
	Jeannette Serving San Bernardino Valley, Pomona Valley, North Riverside County Homes Closed: 35+ Experience: 11 years
	Julie Serving San Bernardino Valley, North Riverside County, Pomona Valley Homes Closed: 38+ Experience: 3 years
	Mona Serving North Riverside County Homes Closed: 700+ Experience: 26 years
	Scott Serving North Riverside County Homes Closed: 172+ Experience: 7 years
	Sidney Serving North Riverside County, San Bernardino Valley Homes Closed: 31+ Experience: 4 years
	Terrie Serving North Riverside County, San Bernardino Valley Homes Closed: 54+ Experience: 9 years
	Barbie Serving South Riverside County Homes Closed: 780+ Experience: 19 years
	Karen Serving South Riverside County Homes Closed: 227+ Experience: 21 years
	Kurt Serving South Riverside County Homes Closed: 37+ Experience: 17 years
	Miguel Serving South Riverside County Homes Closed: 25+ Experience: 5 years
	Nancy Serving South Riverside County Homes Closed: 283+ Experience: 20 years
	Sergio Serving South Riverside County Homes Closed: 122+ Experience: 10 years

Biggest Discounts February Update

Let’s have an update on where buyers are currently getting the biggest discount off the asking price. Our goal in sharing this data is to help potential buyers to know which neighborhoods are softer in terms of sale price discounts off list price, to better equip you when making an offer, and help you know where to look for potential bargains.

In the charts below, we have taken all sales data from the last two months in Orange County and sorted it by zip code. We calculated the overall difference between the sale price and the list price. Note that this reflects the final list price, after all price drops in the listing. Any zips with fewer than ten sales are excluded from the top and bottom ten rankings, but interested readers may download the full data summary in Excel format (xls).

Here are the top ten zip codes with the largest overall discount:

Not a lot of consistency in the top ten compared to our December update. The county-wide discount average moved down just slightly from 3.6% in December to 3.5% at the end of January.

Here are the ten zip codes with the smallest discounts:

Of the 1,633 sales we tracked in the 1-month period, just 24 homes sold for 20% or more off the asking price, while 453 homes sold for more than asking. As a whole, the trend in Orange County seems to have the discounts in most neighborhoods holding steady.