The Tustin housing market, part of the larger Orange County real estate market, seemed poised to continue its recovery into the second half of 2010. Tustin, along with the rest of Southern California, saw increasing home prices and sales as well as declining foreclosures. According to a July 6, 2010 report from USA Today, “Orange County, Calif., is an area of extreme differences. "People think about trophy wives driving Ferraris along the coastal area," says Christopher Thornberg, principal of Beacon Economics. "There is a high-income element. But that is not all of Orange County by any stretch of the imagination." In fact, Santa Ana, which is the county seat, is a working-class, blue-collar city. All of Orange County has been affected by the housing bubble and home foreclosures, though the degree varies by neighborhood…But even areas that had never experienced foreclosure in the 1980s and 1990s, have been hit by it now. Since the housing market hit bottom, the home-buyer tax credit helped bring sales back up. Sales status. The tax credit ended in April, but sales are still rising, because it takes time for deals to close. In May, sales were 18% above May 2009. In addition to first-time buyers, cash investors account for more sales. There is some flipping going on, as the investors buy short sales and foreclosed properties, fix them up and put them back on the market…In May, the median sales price — $505,750 — was 6.7% higher than a year earlier. Three years ago, the county's median price was $714,130.”
Fewer Tustin homes for sale were subjected to foreclosure, which was one possible reason why the median price increased during the most recent tracking period. A July 7, 2010 report from the OC Register noted that “Notices of default and notices of trustee sale – foreclosure auctions – in Orange County were down in May, but as with the California stats we ran recently on distressed properties, the numbers tell just a part of the tale. Goverment programs that stretch out time to try financial workouts and short sales are having an impact on the monthly numbers, but it may only be temporary, experts say. "Banks can choose how many foreclosures to file each month,'' says Sean O'Toole, founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com.”