Just as the number of distressed homes on the market throughout Orange County finally stopped increasing (see related article below), the situation in the unincorporated community of Rossmoor could indicate a trend in the other direction. As of April 23, 2010, there were 34 homes in the active inventory listing of residential real estate for Rossmoor. All of these homes, except for 1 short sale and 2 bank owned properties, are by sellers with equity. But that does not tell the entire story.
According to Glenn Gaspar, REALTOR® with First American Team Realty, Inc.,as of April 23, 2010, there are approximately 34 homes in Rossmoor which are in various stages of foreclosure. Only 1 of these properties is listed in the active inventory. Thus, for every home currently on the market where the seller has equity, there is another property which is not yet on the market, but is moving toward foreclosure. Of these 34 units, 18 are scheduled to go to a Trustee Sale between May 1st and June 22nd,and 16 of the 34 homes are in some stage of the notice of default process
Gaspar told www.OC180NEWS.com “My biggest concern right now is how this inventory, the 33 homes, will affect pricing when they come into play as a short sale listing or as a bank owned property. Another concern which is lurking behind the scenes is the ‘shadow inventory’ which consists of properties where the owners have already defaulted on their loans, but where the banks have yet to move forward and start the foreclosure process.”
Home values in Rossmoor are significantly affected by widely varying home sizes. Since so many homes in Rossmoor have been remodeled into much larger houses, values are best considered on a $/square foot basis. For example, of the 34 homes listed in the active inventory as of April 23, 2010, the most expensive was the property located at 11771 Newbury, which has 5,500 square feet, SF, and is listed for $1,999,000. This home has 6 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 1 half bath, 1 ¾ bath, and sits on an 8,066 square foot lot. While the house size makes it one of the largest houses in Rossmoor, the lot size is toward the smaller end of the spectrum.
By contrast, the least costly single family home on the market in Rossmoor is the property located at 11961 Montecito, which is listed at $670,000. This home has 3 bedrooms, 1.75 baths, 1,628 SF, and a lot size of 7210 SF.
Like all of Orange county residential real estate, the length of time a home remains on the market is directly related to the price bracket it is in. The Newbury home has been on the market for 317 days, while the Montecito property has been on the market for 154 days. Regular readers of these pages know that the lower the price, the hotter the market.
Now, what about that price/square foot business?
Many of the home prices in Rossmoor reflect build-up opportunities. The more opportunity, the higher the price/SF. While this concept cannot necessarily be applied to every Rossmoor home on the market, it is applicable to many. For example, the second highest priced Rossmoor home on an SF basis is located at 11341 Drysdale Ln and is priced at $488.38/SF. The median priced Rossmoor home is listed at $385.71/SF. The Drysdale property has only 1,730 SF on a lot of 8,468 SF. Thus, this property appears to be listed as a candidate for a major remodel.
At the other end of the price/SF spectrum is 2922 Edgeley Pl, at only $229.17/SF, the lowest priced/SF Rossmoor property. This home has 4,800 SF, 4 bedrooms, 3.75 baths, and sits on an 8,036 SF lot. The total price is set at $1,100,000 and the home is new on the market.
The selling prices/SF in Rossmoor have been going up during the first three months of this year, compared to the same months last year. In January the average selling price/SF was $385.86, up11% over the same period in 2009. Then it jumped up in February to $429.56, which was an increase of 23%. It came back down in March to $381.3, an increase of 15% over March 2009.
The variation in the monthly average price/SF during these three months is most likely caused by the small number of transactions. For January 2010, there were only 5 transactions, verses 2 in 2009. When the prices shot up in February 2010, there were only 2 sales, verses 6 in the previous year. For March 2010, there were 3 sales in Rossmoor, compared to 6 in 2009.
A selling price in the mid $380/SF range is consistent with the $385.71/SF median listing price. Since selling prices are currently approximating listing prices, this is probably a good indication of where Rossmoor prices are. This means, for illustrative purposes only, a home with 2,000 SF, would sell for something around $770,000. That is, if a rash of new foreclosures don’t cause the market to drop again.
Glenn Gaspar added “In the state of California a normal/traditional foreclosure process would take approximately 111 days. But due to government intervention, bank delays and the various moratoriums which have come into play…Many home owners who should have already received a notice of default have yet to receive one. This flood of future potential inventory could create a downward pressure on home pricing for this area when they enter the market. This is unfortunate since the jumbo loan market has finally begun to settle down, and start providing financing for this particular home buyer.”
The data in this article is for informational purposes only. Reasonable efforts have been made to produce and provide accurate information which was collected from sources such as the MLS(Multiple Listing Service), Foreclosure Radar.com and county tax records and was provided by Glenn Gaspar-REALTOR® with First American Team Realty, Inc.
