November 2016 Orange County Real Estate Market Report

Huntington Beach Realtor, Jeb Smith discusses the November 2016 Orange County Real Estate Market Report what to expect as we transition into the Holiday season with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching.

Happy Movember! I’m Jeb Smith, Real Estate Broker with ReMax Terrasol here in Huntington Beach with your southern California Real Estate Market Report for November 2016. With Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season approaching our market should continue slowing as Buyer Demand and Inventory slow and buyer activity continues to decline. This is a normal trend that happens almost every year but let’s talk about how you can best position yourself for success if you are a Buyer or Seller in our current market.

Since this is the slowest season for Orange County Real Estate, inventory is continuing to decline exactly as one would expect,. This is a trend that I expect to continue through the end of the year, reaching the lowest point on or near December 31st. Sellers need to understand that even though there are less homes on the market to compete with this time of year, the best way to find success is pricing your home according to fair market value. This means pricing according to comparable sales in your neighborhood and not trying to achieve the new highest sale in the neighborhood due to a shortage of inventory. Have a professional Realtor guide you in pricing as Zillow is not an accurate reflection of your homes value in most cases.

Buyer Demand has also decreased over the last few weeks. We can probably attribute this to Buyers having less inventory to choose from but I expect that Buyer Demand will likely remain flat through year end as the serious buyers who are looking will continue to do so but we won’t likely add many new buyers due to the time of the year. As we get closer Christmas and the New Year, I expect Buyer Demand to also drop to its lowest point of the year as we discussed with inventory. After the 1st of the year, buyer demand will start to rise again but won’t really see a huge bump until we transition into the Spring Market.

Let’s take a minute and discuss interest rates. Interest Rates have moved off of their all-time lows but still remain low by historical measures. With a new president elect and the unknown of whether the Fed will raise Fed Funds rate in December, it’s really hard to say where our interest rates go in the future. Over the short term, Fed hikes aren’t going to be a huge deal but it’s definitely something to keep on your radar if you are in the market to purchase. A rise in interest rates can and will affect your purchasing power as a Buyer and Sellers will likely feel an impact from increasing rates with home prices stabilizing a bit more but this isn’t something I expect to see in the short term as inventory and rates are still low and the market is still very strong.

As you know, all Real Estate is local, so if you are a Buyer, Seller or Investor in Today’s market and you have questions, I would love the opportunity to help guide you in the right direction. If you would like more information about me, please go to my website www.jebsmith.net or check out my other videos on Youtube. As always, I appreciate you taking the time to watch and I look forward to seeing you again next month. Make it a great day.