Irvine market trends - biggest shift in 10 years

As a Woodbridge homeowner and Realtor, I’m excited to see that prices and sales activity have increased substantially. This is true in all areas of the Woodbridge market, including condo tracts like Lakeside and Seasons, and detached SFR tracts like Landing I and II.
These two Woodbridge listings of mine close escrow this month:

Speaking of the “Landings”, so far this year 11 homes have sold, (4 sides were mine), one is in escrow, and two are "active". That's up quite a bit from the 7 sales per year we saw each in 2012, 2011 & 2010. See details of Landing I and II activity here.

Many homeowners who were delaying listing their homes for sale a year or so ago, saw the improvement in the market, and are now cashing in!

Look at this chart. Active, (for sale), units have been climbing consistently in Irvine, (the green bars), but the Pending units have been dropping since May. “Pending” units are the ones that went into escrow each month. 

That said, unless the homes are marketed incredibly well, thereby maximizing their exposure, and the list prices are realistic, they will languish on the market.

You can see that 602 properties were active in September, and only 132 were in escrow. Just 210 sold in September.

The month of May saw the biggest market shift in 10 years!

Historically, as we enter the holiday season, many would-be sellers stall putting their homes on the market until the New Year. Savvy sellers are now seriously considering whether they want their house to be one of many on the market in January, (so they’ll have more competition), or whether to list in the last quarter of the year, when lower inventory creates more demand, which maximizes prices.