PORTOLA HILLS LIVING by Kelly Turbeville

Who loves Fall? My favorite season here in Portola Hills, well maybe except for those lovely Santa Ana winds.  Fall to me feels like home. The day's are shorter, which actually makes me stop and relax, vs the summer and spring when it is go, go, go.  How about you! The real estate market also tends to slow down this time year, though this year buyers are out in force due to the lower interest rates and low inventory.  So how has Portola Hills fall market began this year, take a peek below. Looking at the numbers below we see a slight decrease in pricing from the same time last year, but I am not really concerned as the mix of homes sold in 2018 vs. this past month was much different.  The average size of home sold last year was 3100 square feet with 6 new homes selling vs. this year the average square footage was just over 2600 square feet and there were only 2 new homes sold.  The new homes in The Oaks and Ironridge are certainly impacting the area, but resal

Here in South Orange County, we have several new communities popping up. Locally we have  Baker Ranch ,  The Oaksat Portola Hills ,  Skyridge in Mission Viejo ,  Camden Square inFoothill Ranch  just to name few.   This is good, as resale inventory is very tight.   However, it is also an area that Home Buyers often do not think they can use a Realtor to assist them with finding a home or to negotiate terms.   Buyers often will pop in as they are driving around, fall in love and then maybe contact their local agent once they decided or have placed and offer.  The problem here is it is too late.   If you have already visited the property and registered most new home complexes will think of you as their client and will not let you use a agent.   Below are some tips of why it is a good idea to use an agent when looking at new homes: 1.   The Overall Real Estate Market:   Though new home pricing is going to be typically higher than resales, understanding the market trends is k

As we enter into the first month of January it's important to look at how the overall Portola Hills market ended.   As noted in my previous blog post, Portola Hills real estate closed transactions in December ended the month with a home value increase of 6%.  This is very consistent with the entire Orange County Real Estate market. Below is a quick look at the complete year.  The highest priced home sold for $1.1 Million and the lowest priced condo sold for $270k. Portola Hills 2015 Real Estate Sales Summary The number of closed sales (Volume) was up 7% from 2014.  Looking at the mix of properties the median price per home was up approximately 17%.   Of course, I always like to note this is a summary of all transactions. Each property type, have different levels of appreciation.   See our year end summary which includes each property type here Portola Hills 2014 Real Estate Sales Summary So what is on the horizon for 2016.   Looking at the current low inventory