You saw the news yesterday about the couple who climbed to the top of the Empire State Building, right? I love a good meme, and I could not help myself. A little NYC in the OC.
Now, to the market. The word I keep coming back to right now is recalibration. Not a crash. A recalibration. Nationally, asking prices fell 2.5% year over year in June, the steepest annual decline in Realtor.com data since 2017, and the eighth consecutive month of price drops. But the part that gets overlooked in the headlines is this: pending sales rose for the seventh straight month. New listings are up. Sellers are pricing from the start rather than listing high and cutting later, and buyers are responding. That is not a broken market. That is a market finding its footing.
Remember, these are national numbers. Orange County is its own story. Here, the median sale price came in at $1.3 million over the past three months, up 4.7% year over year, according to Redfin. Prices are holding. The West overall has seen asking prices soften more than other regions, but coastal Orange County continues to hold its value in a way that many other markets simply do not.
Monthly payments are still a real challenge. With the 30-year fixed rate sitting at 6.52% as of mid-June, according to Freddie Mac, affordability remains stretched. That rate dipped close to 6% in February and gave buyers a brief window of optimism, then climbed back up and cooled some of that momentum. The Fed held rates steady in June, which at minimum gives the market some stability to work with. This is not the market to overprice. It is also not the market to sit on the sidelines waiting for rates to drop. The people moving right now are making smart, clear-eyed decisions and finding opportunity.
We have some great off-market opportunities right now, one of which we held a private preview for local agents and buyers. A great afternoon on the lawn with a gelato cart in the sunshine. I am always looking for ways to highlight a property and give people a reason to spend time there enjoying the home.
On the community side, this month we attended the Volume 4 launch of The Scout Guide Newport Beach at the Lido House Hotel. If you are not familiar with The Scout Guide, it is a beautifully curated publication that brings together the very best of a city, local businesses, makers, and tastemakers all in one place. We were thrilled to sponsor the martini bar for the evening. Being part of SERHANT. gives me so many exciting new ways to market and show up for this community, and this was one of those nights that just felt right.
Next up, the question I get asked more than almost any other: what is the single best thing I can do to prepare my home for sale? Same answer every time. Clean. Clean. Clean. Not staged. Not renovated. Clean. It is free, it is immediate, and buyers notice every single time. I did a short video on this one, so make sure you check it out here.
We also want to give a quick shoutout to our summer intern Ty Price, home from the University of Tennessee and bringing some great energy to the team this month. Ty sat down with us for a quick video too, so say hello. Watch here.
Local happenings, what is going on around Newport Beach this summer, and a few things worth knowing are all below as well. From all of us at the AC Team, wishing you a safe and happy Fourth of July. Enjoy the long weekend.
Cheers,
Annie
