The Mission Viejo housing market has suffered in recent months despite an uptick in the median price of a Mission Viejo home for sale. The number of home sales in the region have decreased substantially over the last tracking period, a trend reflected in the larger California real estate market. According to an August 24, 2010 piece from the OC Metro, "Meanwhile, Orange County sales plummeted 12.6 in July, compared to the same time last year. They also fell 14.5 percent from June. The downward trend was seen across the state, which reported a 20.8 percent drop in home sales from July 2009. Sales also slipped 10.9 percent from June...For the remainder of the year, slower sales could negatively impact the median home price, added C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young...In a separate report conducted by C.A.R. and DataQuick, which uses county records data for its stats, Orange County's median home price saw a 6.9 percent gain in July, compared to the same month in 2009. The number rose to $449,000. Additionally, Newport Beach ranked among the top 10 priciest cities in the state, with a median cost of $1.1 million. Lake Forest landed among the top 10 cities with the greatest median price increases, compared to a year ago. The region saw a 24.3 percent uptick."
The entirety of Southern California saw a drop in home sales, mirroring the decline of the Mission Viejo real estate market. According to an August 17, 2010 report from the Associated Press, "Home sales in Southern California plummeted 21.4 percent last month for the largest year-over-year drop in more than two years, a tracking firm reported Tuesday, suggesting the market isn't ready to stand on its own without the help of federal tax credits. San Diego-based MDA DataQuick said the six-county region saw 18,946 sales last month, compared with 24,104 in July 2009. Sales fell 20.6 percent from 23,871 in June, the firm said. DataQuick said last month was the slowest July since 2007, when 17,867 homes were sold. July's year-over-year decline also was the steepest drop since March 2008, when the newly frozen credit market prompted a sales decline of 41.4 percent...The median home price in Southern California declined 1.7 percent to $295,000 last month from $300,000 in June, its second consecutive month-to-month decline."