O.C. home prices hit 31-month low

Source: DataQuick; click to enlarge

Orange County’s home pricing got hit with autmun’s chill, as builders had a record-worst sales month.

DataQuick reported this morning that 2,297 residence sold in November. That is up 1.8% from a year ago. That gain came at a price. Literally.

Median selling price was $400,000 — the lowest since April 2009 and off 8.0% in a year. Orange County’s median first hit $400,000 in May 2003.

By the slice:

• 1,495 single-family residences sold last month. That is up 6% from a year ago.
• 664 condos sold last month. That is up 8% from a year ago.
• Builders had 138 new-home sales last month. That is down 42% from a year ago. It was the slowest November for developers in DataQuick records that date to 1988.

And more analysis …

• $400,000 median selling price is 38% below June 2007′s peak of $645,000.
• Current price is 11.1% below 2010′s peak (May and July) of $450,000; 2% below end of 2010′s median ($410,000.)
• The most recent median is 8% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000 — so the median has recouped 11% of the $275,000 price drop from the peak.
• Compared to cyclical low, single-family house median is 10% higher ($418,250 in January 2009); condo median is 1% higher ($252,000 in March 2009.) Builder prices for new homes are 35% above June 2009′s $424,000 bottom.
• The median selling price of a single-family home is 37% less than their peak pricing (June ’07). Condos sell 46% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 34% below their February ’05 top.
• Single-family homes were 80% more expensive than condos in this period vs. 71% a year ago. From 1988-2010, the average house/condo gap was 57%.
• Builder’s new homes sales were 6% of all residences sold in the period vs. 10% a year ago. From 1988-2010, builders did 14% of the Orange County homeselling