Bank-owned, Short Sales and Standard Sales in Laguna Niguel

Working with buyers every week, I hear the comment that there is a huge inventory of homes. While this is true nationally, it is NOT true in Laguna Niguel.

Laguna Niguel inventory peaked at a little over 400 homes on the active list last spring and today there are 278 homes of all types active on the market. Thirty-eight percent of those active listings are short sales. Less than 1 percent of the active homes are bank-owned REO properties.

So far this year in Laguna Niguel there have been 812 closings of all prices. Interestingly, 16 percent of the closings have been REO properties and 28 percent of closings have been short sales. That leaves 56 percent of all sales as standard sales.

Remember, these numbers include attached and detached properties. Also notice that short sale inventory for all types of homes usually runs at about 40 percent of the actives but only 28 percent of the sales so far this year.

Then notice that bank-owned properties are usually around 1 percent of active listings but 16 percent of actual closings. No wonder buyers looking for distressed properties want to find REO sales instead of short sales.

What about terms of sale? I have been seeing a lot of cash buyers this year. It turns out that an INCREDIBLE 70 percent of all home sales in Laguna Niguel so far this year have been cash sales. Obviously, there are a lot of investors who have decided real estate is a better investment than either the stock market or the low/no interest loans at your friendly neighborhood bank.

I'm looking at our real estate market every day, and I'm shocked. Clearly, real estate is a great investment in South Orange County.