The Perfect Home for Entertaining Family and Friends!

4598 Danita Lane, Yorba Linda

Private country lane features this charming single story ranch style home on a 20,000+square foot flat lot with remodeled salt water pool and spa, sports court (pickle ball court), and large grass area.  A secondary driveway at the rear of the property is perfect for RV and boat parking.  The garage addition accommodates a workout area and enclosed room for crafts, storage, office, etc.  The home features three large bedrooms, a spacious formal living room, separate dining area and ample breakfast and food prep counter.  The family room not only boasts a beamed ceiling and impressive brick fireplace with hearth, but it also has new impressive glass doors that open to a covered patio.  Newer wood windows and vinyl doors overlook lovely views of the surrounding hillsides and neighborhood.  This home has been well maintained and lovingly cared for. Upgrades include newer heat and air, tile roof, custom storage cabinets in garage and paver driveway and walkways. Located in a perfectly peaceful and secluded setting, this home cannot be missed! Walk to the newly developed Yorba Linda Town Center, or hop on one of the miles of horse trails just a few steps from your front door.  Great schools including Yorba Linda High School are just a few blocks away.  Quiet, secluded country living, yet all the needs for you and your family are close by!  Need more room, add-on and reap instant equity in this neighborhood loaded with large estate properties! Offered at $1,029,000

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ORANGE COUNTY IS NOT LOOKED AT AS A CHEAP PLACE TO LIVE, BUT COMPARED TO SILICON VALLEY, THE BAY AREA, AND EVEN WEST L.A., ORANGE COUNTY IS MORE AFFORDABLE

Don't compare Orange County real estate prices with other points of suburbia. It's not a fair comparison anymore. As more cities in Orange County grow urban, both in their appeal to the millenials, who aspire to live a lifestyle, and a cities density of housing for both tract single-family, and upward with condos and own your owns, Orange County is a metropolis, an end destination in itself, with still broad appeal for its closeness to L.A. (jobs), beaches, mountains, deserts, and airports. All of this spells a strong housing market with access to high level jobs and incomes, even as the county must come to grips with its need for affordable housing. Also, housing isn't the only game in town; almost 2.8 million square feet of commercial real estate is on the books, in all categories. Not only will this continue to support a strong construction job sector, but it also supports all the soft economies that grow with it from furniture to computers, to electrical engineering to HR and headhunting services, with everything in between. No wonder short inventories in most cities continue to plague the local real estate agent. In fact, commercial building is up 461% from the winter quarter of 2015 and we are sitting with the most on order since 2007. Housing will have a hard time staying up with that demand. Heed this advice, however: Interest rates rising, whenever they do, and this column will not attempt to predict that, but when that happens and it hits a full percentage point, there will be no choice but for the market to accept a correction, simply because the buyers qualification ratios will decline as rates rise. They simply won't qualify for as big a loan. Sellers who really need to sell, may find themselves adjusting. And that's not a bad thing. We must continue to bridge the gap of affordability as best we can in a very competitive housing market. Read on for what the experts are seeing...

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SUPPORTING OUR SCHOOLS AND OUR COMMUNITY!

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HOMEBUYERS SPRINGING TO LIFE?

It's true! Anything under $700,000 is flying off the shelves. Agents can't keep enough properties listed to meet the demand. Home sales for the 22 business days ending April 17th (all of April is not yet available), showed total resale houses sold at 1,916 for Orange County, up 16.1% from 2011. Condominium volume was up nearly 12%. One zip code in the city of Orange was up 37%, one in San Clemente up 83%. With interest rates hovering around 4% or even a tad lower, and housing at its bottom for likely this century, it's easy to see why the buyers are out for a spring buying fling!

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WHAT WERE THE ACTUAL NUMBERS?

The total number of sales for July was 2,527. That number includes 1,628 single-family resale, 769 condo resale, and 130 new home sales. The total number is down 26.2% from June. (Remember the tax credit lapsed.) And it was also down 19.2% from July of ’09. Of course July was when the investors really started cranking last year, and has been busy ever since. In fact, the distribution of sales over price ranges would indicate that the housing market does, in fact, have some legs, somewhere. All price ranges were off in volume, but mostly on the lower end. The higher end was barely off, less than 5%. This means that move up buyers, buyers with cash and ability are staying in the market and they are buying homes.

The actual breakdown is as follows: a) under $400,000 – 1,026 sales b) $400,000 to $500,000 – 404 c) $500,000 to $600,000 – 305 d) $600,000 to $700,000 – 243 e) over $700,000 – 514. Adding up the properties that would qualify for “Jumbo Conforming” loans and you have nearly half the total sales at over 1,000 properties. This would seem to indicate a more robust market than economists would have you believe. Well, its food for thought anyway.

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TROUBLE SPOTS AND OTHER INTERESTING TIDBITS

Notices of Default grew slightly in July compared with June to 1,462. However to keep things in perspective, let’s remember that it is 50% lower than a year ago. And that speaks as loudly for the positive side of housing, as the slow down in sales may spark negative rumor. The adjustable rate percentage is appropriately low at 8.3% meaning nearly 93 of every 100 loans closed is a fixed rate mortgage. Why not? With rates at below historic rates, and still going down, we find ourselves in a refinance boom, considering how many people have been left out of it due to equity issues. Maybe one of the most telling statistics for the month that validates the money is out there, is that even with FHA supposedly funding way more loans than they want to, the average down payment in Orange County is 19.2% or if you forget stats, 20% conventional loans are happening.

California Association of Realtors has reported that in Orange County a minimum income of $70,670 is needed to afford a starter home at $428,810, slightly below the median price. That means the county has a 54% affordability index right now, a little below the statewide 64%. A reminder of where we came from… the affordability index was 11% in 2006. So, back to the question of half empty or half full… optimist or pessimist? This author believes in the strength of housing, the diversity of an albeit wounded economy, and resilience of all of us together working it out.

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PRESIDENT SIGNS FEDERAL TAX CREDIT EXTENSION

President Obama signed a bill extending and expanding the Federal Tax Credit for Home
Buyers. The bill now includes current homeowners.

The tax credit will be extended through April 30, 2010, with a 60-day extension if a binding contract is in place prior to the deadline. First-time home buyers will continue to receive a tax credit of up to $8,000, while existing homeowners will receive a reduced credit of up to $6,500. Existing homeowners will be eligible for the $6,500 if they have lived in their current residences for at least five years. The bill also will increase the qualifying income limits from $75,000 for single tax filers and $150,000 for joint filers, to $125,000 and $225,000, respectively. The purchase price of the home is capped at $800,000.

Under additional provisions in the bill, taxpayers can claim the credit on purchases completed in 2010 on their 2009 income tax returns. The bill maintains the provision that home buyers do not have to repay the credit provided the home remains their primary residence for 36 months after purchase, and waives this requirement for active duty military personnel who move due to a military order.

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