Mid-November Market Pulse: Orange County Real Estate Snapshot

Hard to believe, but we’re already halfway through November and Thanksgiving is just around the corner! As the year winds down, many of us in real estate are laser-focused on meeting our year-end goals. Nothing in our business happens overnight, but if you’re already thinking about new strategies for 2026, now’s the perfect time to get started. I’d love the opportunity to help you grow your business and plan for success in the coming year.

Below is a detailed look at the current Orange County Real Estate Market, sourced from OC Register/CoreLogic/DQ News (11/16/2025).

🏠 Home Prices

• Overall home sales: +0.2%

• Median OC Home Price: $1,178,500

• 74% of listings are priced at $1M+

• 33% of listings exceed $2M

📊 Sales Volume

• Overall sales: +1%

• Inventory: 4,288 homes (slightly down from last week)

• Average Days on Market: 83

💰 Interest Rates

• 30-year fixed: 6.24% (up 0.02%)

• 15-year fixed: 5.49% (down 0.01%)

• Average monthly payment: $6,271

Wow Factor:

• 88.5% of U.S. homeowners have an interest rate below 6%

• 78.7% below 5%

• 59.4% below 4%

• 22.6% below 3%!

2024 FHA Loan Limits:

• LA/OC/SD: $766,550

• Inland Empire: $644,000

📉 Historical Perspective on Rates

• Since 1971: 7.8% average

• 2010s: 4.1%

• 2000s: 6.9%

• 1990s: 8.1%

• 1980s: 12.7%

🌴 Southern California Median Home Prices

🕰️ The Vanishing Homebuyer

• First-time buyer age: 28 (1991) → 38 (2024)

• Repeat buyer age: 42 (1991) → 61 (2024)

👀 Agent Insights

• 81% of NAR agents say staging boosts home value by 1–5%

• 74% of agents didn’t close a sale in 2024

• 2% sold 11–20 homes

• 0.14% sold more than 45 homes

• The top 1% handle 17% of all business

• The top 50% handle 91% of all business

🤯 Did You Know?

• 30% of all U.S. listings are in Texas and Florida

• Only 17% of California buyers can afford a median-priced home

⚠️ Challenging Headwinds

• California claims 15 of the 25 most expensive U.S. cities

• 70% of the nation’s priciest ZIP codes are in California

• 1 in 5 CA households spends half their income on housing

• Buying a home in LA or OC costs 10× the average family’s annual income

• Average rent: $2.96/sq. ft. (5th highest in the nation)

• 65% of Americans earning $60k+ report financial strain

• 25% of those earning $150k+ feel the same

• Californians skipping bills at highest rate since 2021

• Income needed to buy an OC median home: $349,200/year

• 20% of SoCal office space sits vacant (OC: 18M sq. ft., LA: 51M sq. ft.)

🔮 2025 Forecast

The California Association of Realtors projects a 10% increase in home sales next year.

📈 Market Trends

• Home prices have grown 8.6% annually on average over the past decade

• California is home to 6 of the nation’s top housing markets

• 230 of 309 U.S. metros face housing shortages

• Home flippers make up 3.3% of California purchases

• Only 50% of Americans can afford a home (down from 59%)

• 40% of California homeowners are considering moving out of state

• 9% plan to move within California

🧮 Fun Stats

• U.S. homeownership: 65.5%

• CA homeownership: 54.8% (3rd lowest nationally)

• Only 22.8% of CA homes are mortgage-free

• Nationwide, 37% of homes have no mortgage; among the rest, 25% have over 50% equity

• 67 million U.S. homeowners are over 55 — time to market to Baby Boomers!

• California remains the 5th largest economy in the world

📚 Orange County Home Sales History

If you’d like to discuss these numbers, brainstorm your 2026 goals, or explore new strategies for lead generation, investing, or property management, let’s connect.

📞 Christopher Phipps | Realty One Group West
📧 christopher@ochomz.com
DRE #01504980 | 714.206.1479