Owners of High-End OC Housing Rush to Sell

Is there a summertime chill for Orange County's upper crust?

ReportsOnHousing says the local resale housing market is going through a pretty typical post-spring cooling, but its most dramatic slowing is for the pricier homes listed.

As of June 30, the supply of homes priced above $1 million had grown by 8 percent in a month. Meanwhile, demand for those homes -- measured as new escrows opened -- fell by 19 percent. ReportsOnHousing stats are a good indicator of how actual closings will progress in the next two months or so.

Slower dealmaking as sellers add listings means that Orange County saw a dramatic slowdown in one home-sale speed yardstick, especially for pricier homes. ReportsOnHousing measures "market time," how fast inventory would sell at current rate of demand. Any reading below 90 days is considered a seller’s market:

• For all Orange County homes, market time was 74 days on June 30 vs. 65 days a month earlier.

• Homes priced between $1 million to $1.5 million: market time was 143 vs. 102 days a month ago.

• Between $1.5 million to $2 million, 159 days from 137.

• Above $2 million, 322 days vs. 231 days.

Overall inventory of existing homes listed for sale rose by 8 percent in two weeks to 7,104, the highest since August 2015 and 7 percent above the year-ago level.

New pending sales dropped 3 percent in two weeks to 2,887, its lowest level since March and 3 percent below a year ago.

"Orange County housing is still a slight seller’s market, which is when sellers are able to call more of the shots during the negotiating process, but appreciation slows considerably," ReportsOnHousing's Steve Thomas wrote.

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