From November 2020 to November 2021, overall home sales decreased in the county by 3.5%, according to data released Thursday by real estate firm DQNews.
Some economists expect home price appreciation will slow to single digits next year, in part because they expect mortgage rates will rise.
The intensity prompted some prospective shoppers to put their search on hold after dueling in bidding wars.
Steven Thomas, chief economist who tracks the Southern California market at Reports on Housing, said Friday that spring is typically the time houses are placed on the market with plans to go into escrow and close over summer.
Normally, he explained, the new year in the Orange County real estate market begins with about 5,000 available homes.
“The available homes on the market is right around the lowest level I’ve seen,” Thomas said, who’s been monitoring data for over 30 years.
Before joining the Pilot in February 2017, she worked for the Daily Breeze covering the Palos Verdes Peninsula and for the Long Beach Press-Telegram as a general assignment intern.