This report is intended to give you an accurate picture of Yorba Linda housing market activity as it changes from month to month. Also, I want you to know a little of what Yorba Linda is all about! So, I include a short,subjective description of this beautiful small city and all it offers!
Yorba Linda is a serene, friendly, upscale suburban city of approximately 65,000 people, nestled in the extreme Northeast corner of Orange County. Part of an early Spanish land grant to the Yorba family, the city's name literally translates to "Beautiful Yorba". These rolling hills were considered the loveliest part of the old ranch.
Yorba Linda is widely regarded as an exclusive and prestigious community and homes are highly sought after!
A bit of recent market history showing Yorba Linda total Active listing inventory, number of Pending listings and the ratio of Pending to Active:
7/30/07: .... 469 Active/77 Pending - Ratio is 16% 8/24/07: .... 479 Active/59 Pending - Ratio is 12% 10/05/07: ... 488 Active/43 Pending - Ratio is 9% 11/27/07: ... 456 Active/46 Pending - Ratio is 10% 1/25/08: .... 382 Active/43 Pending - Ratio is 11% 2/20/08: .... 401 Active/58 Pending - Ratio is 15% 4/8/08: ..... 438 Active/73 Pending - Ratio is 17% 5/11/08: .... 450 Active/80 Pending - Ratio is 18% 6/11/08: .... 422 Active/98 Pending - Ratio is 23% 7/19/08: .... 427 Active/101 Pending - Ratio is 24% 9/26/08: .... 375 Active/100 Pending - Ratio is 27% 11/4/08: .... 365 Active/83 Pending - Ratio is 23% 1/19/09: .... 314 Active/84 Pending - Ratio is 27% 2/20/09: .... 315 Active/117 Pending - Ratio is 37% 3/24/09: .... 322 Active/120 Pending - Ratio is 37% 4/19/09: .... 305 Active/120 Pending - Ratio is 39% 6/6/09: ...... 313 Active/144 Pending - Ratio is 46% 7/20/09: .... 300 Active/145 Pending - Ratio is 48% 9/25/09: .... 255 Active/177 Pending - Ratio is 69% 10/27/09: .. 221 Active/189 Pending - Ratio is 86% 1/6/10: ...... 214 Active/173 Pending - Ratio is 81% 2/8/10: ...... 249 Active/171 Pending - Ratio is 69% 3/7/10: ...... 262 Active/182 Pending - Ratio is 70% 4/16/10: .... 297 Active/198 Pending - Ratio is 67% 5/23/10: .... 326 Active/210 Pending - Ratio is 64% 7/5/10: ...... 382 Active/176 Pending - Ratio is 46% 10/8/10: .... 376 Active/145 Pending - Ratio is 39% 11/14/10: .. 359 Active/158 Pending - Ratio is 44% 3/16/11: .... 338 Active/159 Pending - Ratio is 47% 5/8/11: ...... 357 Active/171 Pending - Ratio is 48% 6/15/11: .... 378 Active/152 Pending - Ratio is 40% 8/14/11: .... 349 Active/183 Pending - Ratio is 52% 10/30/11: ... 282 Active/169 Pending - Ratio is 60% 1/19/12: ..... 222 Active/156 Pending - Ratio is 70%
Inventory continues to fall significantly! Active numbers should greatly increase in the next few weeks as we head into the Spring market .... the most active segment of the Real Estate calendar. Not many listings come on during the Holidays. Most people are just too busy for buying and selling! The real action is about to begin!
Yorba Linda is enjoying a brisk, healthy market!
Multiple offers are still common as Buyers compete for the best Yorba Linda homes. This will eventually force prices up. It is happening ... but slowly. Full recovery of the housing market will take some time! But, we are gaining ground in Yorba Linda!
If you find a good, well priced Yorba Linda condo or home you really like ... don't take too long to decide if you want to make an offer. Somebody else might beat you to it ... especially in the lower price ranges!
It has been a Seller's market for months and months on Yorba Linda homes priced under $600,000. Buyers are beginning to move up in price.
42% of all very recently closed sales were over $600,000. The Yorba Linda market activity trend is moving up in price ... but slowly!
Interest rates remain at historic lows! Buyers must be pre-approved for their financing before making an offer if they are to be competitive. The days of the simple "Lender letter" pre-qualification are over!
Some higher priced Sellers are still competing with each other for Yorba Linda market attention and are negotiating. Price reductions are the norm in all price ranges and categories. But, if a home is well priced for what it is ... it probably will sell quickly without need for a price reduction or much negotiation.
One of the weakest links in this housing market is still the Yorba Linda luxury homes. 20% of all Yorba Linda Active listings are priced over $1,000,000. The current ratio of Pending to Active is still low in this range. With 44 Actives and only 9 in escrow, the ratio is 21%.
Pending Yorba Linda sales in this most expensive range are listed from $1,075,000 to $1,700,000.
Jumbo financing, in most cases, is still a bit difficult to obtain. This is holding the market back in the higher price ranges.
Yorba Linda Estate homes, listed over $1,000,000 usually take a little longer to sell. See below for further discussion on recently closed sales, marketing time and ratio of closed to list price in this range.
Of the 222 Yorba Linda homes currently listed as Active, 49 (22%) are attached properties. 45 Yorba Linda townhouses and condos are now in escrow for a whopping Pending to Active ratio of 92%!
Overall Active list price range in the attached category is $121,111 to $880,000. Size, age, views and amenities vary greatly, of course. There is a good selection of Yorba Linda condos and townhomes to fit any lifestyle!
Yorba Linda has many beautiful tracts of attached single family homes and all seem to have expansive green belts!
Detached Yorba Linda Single Family Homes range from $256,500 to $4,000,000. The least expensive is a smaller manufactured home, built in 1984 on a residential lot in an excellent area of town. It has 2bdrm/2 bth, 1,052 sqft and a two car garage.
The most expensive of the Yorba Linda homes for sale is a 3 bdrm/2 bth fixer home, 1684 sqft, built in 1954 on over 8 equestrian acres of prime view property in central Yorba Linda. Value is mainly in the land which can be subdivided. Something for everybody in Yorba Linda!
The overall ratio of Yorba Linda homes, detached and under $1,000,000, is 79%, with 129 Active and 102 in escrow as of 1/19/12. Not bad!
The best selling Yorba Linda residence category is the "under $500,000's" with a stunning ratio of 136%! 31 Active and 42 in escrow!
Second place goes to Yorba Linda homes in the $600,000's with 16 Actives/16 Pending and a 100% ratio! Excellent!
The $500,000's claim third place with a very good ratio of 70%. 33 Active and 23 homes in escrow.
The ratios of all other ranges, below $1,000,000, are also good but not as impressive. The $700,000's through the $900,000's claim ratios ranging between 31% and 53%. All ratios are improved over my November report.
52 Yorba Linda MLS listed homes closed escrow between 11/15/2011 and 12/14/2011. All figures below refer to Yorba Linda closed sales within this time frame.
Looking at all price ranges and categories, 13 Yorba Linda properties (25%) closed at 100% of list price or higher.
Of the 52 closed Yorba Linda sales, 45 had reduced the price at least once. 4 prices had been raised and 3 prices were unchanged by the time of closing.
There are three main reasons why a price would be raised on a listing. There were multiple offers and the price is simply bid up over list price. The Seller may have credited money to the Buyer and raised the price to compensate. The Bank may approve a Short Sale at a price higher than the list price which the bank did not set in the first place.
There were 22 closed sales over $600,000 (42%) and 14 of those were over $700,000! The market trend is (very slowly) moving up in price!
The highest Yorba Linda final sale, under $1,000,000, closed at $999,900 which was 100% of list price. It was an Equity Sale and had been on the market for 66 days when reported Pending.
The very highest Yorba Linda closing went at $1,640,000 after 103 days on the market. 93% ratio to list price. Equity sale.
Days on Market (DOM) means the number of days a home is actively on the market .... from date of listing until reported as a Pending sale.
Days spent in "Back Up" status count as Active time. Also, only the current listing time is counted. A home might have expired and been relisted. Or, it might have spent some time actually in escrow and fell out.
Yorba Linda Short Sales often stay on the market for a long time in "Back Up" status ... even though an offer may have been submitted to the bank within days of listing. Bank processing can take forever ... so these homes can wind up with a very long DOM mfigure.
Some homes stay on the market much longer than others and go through several price reductions. Unless there is some serious flaw in condition or location ... this almost always means the property had a list price that was too high in relation to recently sold homes in the immediate area! These are the ones that can wind up selling far below original list price after months on the market.
45 closed Yorba Linda sales, under $1,000,000, sold in an average of 127 DOM during this timeframe. This figure includes 6 sales that took between 218 - 267 DOM to go Pending ... as well as 2 Short Sales that took 378 and 791 DOM.
Yorba Linda closings (7), over $1,000,000, averaged 134 DOM. Marketing time ranged from 49 DOM to 240 DOM.
Only 8 Yorba Linda homes were reported Pending in under 30 days.
Standard Equity sales of Yorba Linda Homes, under $1,000,000 (21), averaged 97% of list price at closing. One homes sold at 86% Closed to List price. All other ratios ranged between 91% and 100%.
An "Equity" sale means that the home is owned by a regular Seller with enough equity to sell and pay off his loan and costs.
Equity sales over $1,000,000 (6) closed at 95% of List price. Ratios ranged from 93% to 98% of List.
Yorba Linda Bank Repos (REOs) under $1,000,000 (8) averaged 99% of list at closing. Low ratio was 97%. High ratio was 102%.
There were no Yorba Linda Bank Owned homes, over $1,000,000, closed during this timeframe.
Yorba Linda Short Sales, under $1,000,000 (12) averaged 99% of list price at closing. One Short Sale home closed at 80% of List. The 11 other ratios were between 93% and 119%.
One Yorba Linda Short Sale, over $1,000,000, closed at 84% of List.
There were 3 Yorba Linda New Construction closed sales ranging from $485 to $860,000. Average ratio was 96% Closed to List price.
One HUD closing had a 99% price ratio.
Standard Equity sales have become the most common sort of listing in Yorba Linda. They are also the most Buyer Friendly type of sale.
So, it seems that, once Sellers come to terms with the real market value of their home, they can usually get pretty close to list price or more. It depends on the individual circumstances of each sale ... especially the price relative to true market value!
Most experts predict that immigration into Southern California will continue to exceed available housing .... especially in the urban and closer-in suburban areas which are pretty well "built-out".
If this happens, prices will continue to increase over time, even if interest rates rise as well. In recent times, there have always been "Boom and Bust" cycles. But the market eventually recovers from a Bust and another Boom is born!
Yorba Linda offers tremendous opportunities for the First Time Home Buyer! Lower priced condos, townhomes and detached homes abound within this affluent city!
The city of Yorba Linda offers a Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) to those Buyers who have not owned a home in the past 36 months. Check this out at www.ci.yorba-linda.ca.us.
There are no "bad" neighborhoods in Yorba Linda. Some neighborhoods are just a little more expensive than others. All use the same excellent schools. Homes in Yorba Linda command higher prices than most surrounding areas. Still, Yorba Linda has something for everybody!
There is a good selection of Yorba Linda view homes! You can take your pick of city light, golf course, mountain, pastoral and even Catalina views. Because most of Yorba Linda is elevated, evening brings cooling breezes on even the hottest summer days.
Yorba Linda Golf Course View Homes are plentiful!
Yorba Linda can boast of two excellent golf courses! The Yorba Linda Country Club is private and located in central Yorba Linda. The fairways are surrounded and viewed by tract homes built in the 60's-70's as well as many elegant custom homes built before and after that time.
The more recently opened Black Gold Golf Course is located in the hills of Northwest Yorba Linda. These fairways are surrounded by gorgeous, newer homes of varying sizes ... but mostly quite large! Construction in this upscale Yorba Linda planned community will be going on for years to come.
Yorba Linda has historically been known for it's large lots. You will find horse property in Yorba Linda! There are many Yorba Linda equestrian homes, some with their own barns, with VERY large lots! Miles of city maintained horse trails are found throughout Central and East Yorba Linda.
The Buena Vista Equestrian Center is a very popular city owned and maintained public park with arenas, training pens and a small grandstand. You can find more information at the website of the Yorba Linda Country Riders: www.YLCR.net
Newer tract construction since the 1990's has tended to concentrate on very large, elegant view homes on smaller but ample lots. Yorba Linda homes generally have more space around them than homes in the surrounding communities.
You will find few Homeowners Associations in Yorba Linda but they do exist ... especially in the newer tracts.
Special tax assessments in the newer areas are relatively low. The many parks, greenbelts and horse trails are usually maintained by the city and a small annual fee appears on tax bills.
The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD) is very highly regarded and considered one of the finest in Orange County. Four High Schools serve the Yorba Linda community ... including the new Yorba Linda High School in central Yorba Linda which opened in 9/2009.
There is very little commercial development in Yorba Linda. The only large commercial site, Savi Ranch, is located down by the 91 Freeway ... away from most residential areas. The historic downtown area has been preserved and is the site of many regular and Holiday events and activities ... including a Farmer's Market.
The large Yorba Linda Community Center hosts many cultural events throughout the year ... including Art and Music Festivals, Craft Fairs, Senior activities, classes and events and has Banquet facilities.
And, of course, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library is a great asset to Yorba Linda and a enjoyable way to spend the day ... no matter your political persuasion! A lot of history here!
Yorba Linda really is a small town .... a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of the world outside!
You will love Yorba Linda! I have lived here for over thirty years and have never once considered moving! My kids grew up here and have their own good memories of excellent schools and a clean, serene, safe and friendly way of life. I know this area very well! Let me show it to you! You will want to live here too!
This report has been written and submitted by:
Marlene Prescott Prudential California Realty
714 283-6643 marlenepre@aol.com www.marleneprescott.com CA DRE LIC# 00840097
About Marlene Prescott:
Thank you for viewing my Market Conditions report! I have been happily and successfully representing Buyers and Sellers in North Orange County and the Corona area Since 1982. I love Real Estate and it shows!
I am a member of the Prudential Leading Edge Society which means I ranked among the top 6% of all Prudential agents nationwide. I have been affiliated with Prudential California Realty for the last fifteen years. The prestige and clout of Prudential, combined with my own expertise and experience, is a winning combination.
You will find me professional and easy to work with! Your questions and concerns will be addressed promptly and completely. A transaction is about you ... and I will always keep your best interests as my primary focus. I really listen to what you say.
I am a native Southern Californian, but went to High School on the Oregon coast before graduating from the University of Oregon. Following graduation, I was a social worker in downtown Los Angeles for eight years before I married and moved to Yorba Linda in 1972. I have a son and a daughter who are both currently living on the East Coast ... I try to visit them often.
I love to garden, read, attend live theater, travel and paint rooms in my house (among other homeowner things). I love my cats and crafts .... and life in general! I am forever searching for a highly scented candle and a good novel with substance!
EMail me at MarlenePre@AOL.com or call me at (714) 998-7250 with any questions you may have about my little corner of the world or our Real Estate market. You will receive a prompt, thoughtful and reliable response!
These reports reflect the views and opinions of their authors and are not necessarily the views and opinions of Realty Times.
