Home Price Discrepancies in Laguna Niguel

          Home Price Discrepancies in Laguna Niguel

If you are a potential home buyer or seller you probably have noticed a wide variance of prices, and a discrepancy within neighborhoods for the same types of homes. Every home is unique, so the price of one which has been updated should be considerably higher than one that is original. Also location and views play a large part.

Remember we are in a rapidly changing market. Think of a “U” shaped curve. As foreclosures were increasing and prices were falling every sale price was less than the last one. Now we are on the upward side of the curve and every sale is higher than the last. The low inventory, all-time low interest rates and high demand are launching us into a vertical market. Find your homes value in Laguna Niguel.

Here is something else to keep in mind. While we are sure to see some short sales and foreclosures trickle on the market for the next three years, there are much fewer on the market now. Right now there are only 21 active condos for sale in Laguna Niguel, and they are ALL Standard Sales except one Short Sale. There are 66 condos in backup and pending status and about half of those are short sales. Detached homes are the same. There are currently 102 active detached homes of ALL prices. How many of those are distressed sales? – 1 short sale. There are 97 detached homes in escrow of which 13 are distressed sales. The good news is that many previously underwater home owners are no longer under water.

I was evaluating a small neighborhood of detached homes today and discovered two homes of the exact same model that were in escrow. One was a standard equity sale in escrow at $695,000 and the other is a short sale in escrow at $475,000 which has been on the market for over 400 days. If both of these properties close in the next 30 days we will have comparable sales closing the same month at $220,000 difference. The difference in this case really reflects sale prices a year and a half apart. Cash buyers and conventional buyers who remove appraisal contingencies are setting new price levels every day. Also unrealistic sellers are beginning to anticipate the market too aggressively.

Ron Buck, Realtor®

Ron Buck has been a real estate broker for 16 years with over 450 successfully completed transactions. He is a 10-year resident of Laguna Niguel and is an expert in south Orange County real estate. You can contact him at Ron@JonRonRealEstate.com or 949.456.0505.