Orange County’s housing market may be showing some signs of cooling.
The median price of OC existing homes sold in April rose 5.7% to $682,000, versus a year earlier, the California Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. Statewide, home prices rose at a quicker pace of 12.5% to $509,230 in the period.
A smaller supply of unsold homes is causing Orange County’s median price growth rate to fall, said Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist with the California Association of Realtors.
In April 2004, it took 1.9 months to sell a home in Southern California, Kleinhenz said. Now, it’s taking roughly 3.7 months.
“We’ll probably see over the next couple of months relatively smaller percentage gains in the Orange County median price,” he added. “There is more of a supply now.”
The double-digit increases in home prices in nearly every region of the state reflected the continuing demand for housing and the ongoing supply shortage, said Jim Hamilton, the Los Angeles-based trade group’s president.
The total number of homes sold in the county rose 9.9% versus a year earlier, but fell 3.9% compared to March. OC home prices were up 2.2% from March.
In a separate report the realtors group compiled with DataQuick Information Systems, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach were among the 10 cities and communities in California with the highest median home prices during April.
Laguna Beach reported a median home price of $1,485,000 while Newport Beach checked in at $1,297,500.
Laguna Hills was the only OC city among the state’s fastest-growing home prices. Laguna Hills saw median prices jump 53% in April compared to a year ago.
