I say, thank God for Villa Park in Orange County, California. It is exactly the sort of place those who don’t believe we are in an economic tailspin point to and say: “See, there are places the real estate situation isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s pretty damn good!”
Here’s the scoop.
Reports the Orange County Register: “Buyers snapped up houses at a faster pace last year than in the previous year in a city with a hotter real estate market than other Orange County areas…Last year, 49 sales were closed or pending, compared with 39 sales in 2007.”
Now, first you need to know that Villa Park is not your average American town. Only about 65 hundred humans call it home and the entire city fits neatly into slightly more than 2 square miles. Kinda cute if you think about it. But don’t.
Most of its homes were –past tense–very expensive. Now, they are just expensive.
Still, they have come down in price enough that, says the paper, “about 100 people attended an open house of a foreclosed house the first weekend in January” and it got many offers apparently.
These are real bargains and not the sort you are likely to find in many other parts of the nation.
“Because Villa Park is so unique with large lots, it’s always going to hold its value,” the paper quotes one real estate agent as saying.
No, it is not exactly the Emerald City. Nor is it a sign that the economic crisis is starting to ebb. What it is is a reminder that there are some exceptions to be found if you look around carefully enough…but then again, do you really want to move to The OC?
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Article Author: Charles FeldmanCharles has written 179 articles for us.
Visit Charles's Website: http://www.thefeldmanblog.com
Charles is currently reporting for KNX Radio in Los Angeles, is the co-author of the book No Time To Think, and can be found commenting about the news on his blog, The Feldman Blog, as well as on The Huffington Post.
Joshua Dorkin
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Experiences like this just go to show that there’s not a real estate crisis in the country, so much as there is an inflated real estate price expectation crisis.
Home prices are falling back to sustainable market levels, and that means that there will be buyers and lenders willing to make mortgage loans again.
Let’s just hope the government gets out of the way and allows prices to fall to a level where buyers and sellers can get together and make deals happen.