Orange County Market Snapshot - March 2022

March 2022

Nationally, existing home sales recently dropped to a 6-month low, falling 7.2% as buyers struggled to find a home amid rising prices and historic low inventory. Pending sales are also down, declining 4.1% as of last measure, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Builders are working hard to ramp up production—the U.S. Census Bureau reports housing starts are up 22.3% compared to a year ago—but higher construction costs and increasing sales prices continue to hamper new home sales, despite high demand for additional supply.

• New Listings decreased 29.7 percent for Detached homes and 23.1 percent for Attached homes.
• Pending Sales decreased 47.4 percent for Detached homes and 42.2 percent for Attached homes.
• Inventory decreased 31.2 percent for Detached homes and 30.1 percent for Attached homes.
• Median Sales Price increased 28.8 percent to $1,320,000 for Detached homes and 24.5 percent to $716,000 for Attached homes.
• Days on Market decreased 34.8 percent for Detached homes and 44.0 percent for Attached homes.
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 26.7 percent for Detached homes and 23.1 percent for Attached homes.

Across the country, consumers are feeling the bite of inflation and surging mortgage interest rates, which recently hit 4.6% in March, according to Freddie Mac, rising 1.4 percent since January and the highest rate in more than 3 years.

Monthly payments have increased significantly compared to this time last year, and as housing affordability declines, an increasing number of would-be homebuyers are turning to the rental market, only to face similar challenges as rental prices skyrocket and vacancy rates remain at near-record low.