The Huntington Harbor housing market

The Huntington Harbor housing market, a component of the Orange County real estate market, saw signs of strength along with the rest of the region. According to a June 15, 2010 piece from OC Metro, Orange Countys median home price and sales numbers got a welcome boost in May, partly due to government tax credits, low mortgage rates and more activity in higher-priced areas, according to a new report from MDA DataQuick. The median home price rose to $450,000 in the county, up about 10 percent from the same time last year. The article by Kristen Schott continued to note that Sales rose 22 percent in Orange County, compared to the same time last year. Buyers snapped up 3,257 properties, compared to 2,667 in May 2009. Its the second consecutive month of yearly gains, according to MDA DataQuick. The number also increased from 2,669 in April.

The number of bankruptcies in the Orange County area may drag on the eventual recovery of Huntington Harbor real estate. According to a June 14, 2010 article from the Orange County Register, The Orange County bankruptcy filings for May have something for both pessimists and optimists. Bankruptcy filings for Orange County individuals and businesses rose 31.3% in May compared to a year earlier. And the 1,562 filings were the higher for May in at least 11 years, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The report continued to say that The good news is that in May the number of filings in the Orange County court declined 7.1%. It was the second straight month of fewer filings after the number spiked in March. Bankruptcy activity remains very high by historical standards.

A more negative perspective on the status of the Huntington Harbor housing market was provided by economist Christopher Cagan. Cagan, who was interviewed by the Orange County Register on June 11, 2010, stated that In the short to near term, I expect a double dip. This is the logical aftermath of the sugar shot from the Federal first time buyer tax credit. It borrowed buyers from the future, and we are now going into that future.

The Soquel housing market

The Soquel housing market, a subsidiary of the larger Santa Clara County housing market, is showing some signs of strength during the first half of 2010. According to a May 31, 2010 article from the Mercury News, The local housing market continues to show improvement in sales and value of homes, though overall home sales in the nine-county Bay Area and the state as a whole, showed mixed results during the month of April, according to [the] latest real estate sales and price reports. The piece, composed by Rose Meily, went on to state that MDA DataQuick reports sales for all new and resale homes and condos in Santa Clara County rose 3.1 percent in April compared with the same period last year. A total of 1,656 homes sold in April, up from 1,606 homes sold in April 2009. The median home price for all homes jumped 20.7 percent from $405,000 in April of 2009 to $489,000 this year.

Soquel real estate may soon face higher demand as the Silicon Valley market also begins to recover. According to a June 10, 2010 article from Housing Watch, The housing market in Californias Silicon Valley is beginning to rebound. And while it certainly isnt as hot and heavy as it was in the dot-com boom with multiple offers as the sky, local real estate agents say competition is starting again among homebuyers, especially on the lower end of the market. The piece, composed by Aaron Crowe, went on to state that Nearly half of the homes sold in Santa Clara County, Calif., in May sold for more than their asking prices, according to a San Jose Mercury News story.

The overall economic situation facing the Soquel housing market also improved in the month of April. According to a May 21, 2010 article from the Mercury News, Silicon Valleys troubled job market turned a corner in April with a sharp drop in unemployment in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, driven in part by an increase in tech hiring. The Silicon Valley economy is growing again, said Stephen Levey of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. The numbers are small, but the direction has definitely changed.