The Yorba Linda real estate market, a subsidiary of the larger Orange County, California housing market, saw a decrease in the volume of home sales as well as a decline in the number of foreclosures in Orange County. According to statistics released by MDA DataQuick, a real estate information service, the number of home sales in the Orange County decreased relative to year-ago levels. There were a total of 2,257 single-family homes sold in the month of November 2010, which represented a decrease of almost eleven percent from November 2009 and a fall of about two percent from October 2010. Although a decline can be expected for this part of the year, the fall in sales volume might also be attributable to nationwide economic weakness and the threat of a double dip recession. In terms of median price, the average Orange County home was purchased for $435,000, an uptick of about one-half of a percent compared to November 2009 but a decrease of approximately two-thirds of a percent relative to October 2010. This figure was substantially higher than the rest of Southern California, but remained well off the peak of the market, which occurred before the nationwide collapse of the real estate bubble and recession.
Fewer Yorba Linda homes for sale were on the market as the result of a bank-mandated foreclosure in the last few months of 2010. According to one local expert, this trend can be attributed to a number of unique factors in Orange County, including a more stable job market, a stronger local economy, and a lower amount of excess inventory. Currently, about a third of the condominium and home sales in Orange County are the result of a foreclosure or short sale, about ten to twenty percent lower than the rest of California. Of these distressed sales, about one-third are ‘true’ foreclosures, or REOs (real estate owned by lender), while around two thirds are distressed properties being sold by homeowners. It appears that short sales and foreclosures, as well as the continued stress of distressed properties, will result in either static or decreasing home prices over the next several months and the upcoming year.