Home sales dive 14% in Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano

Homebuying in inland South County — including Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita and San Juan Capistrano — fell 14 percent from August through November vs. the same period in 2017 amid a steep countywide slowdown.

Once primetime selling season ended in Orange County this summer, house hunters balked. That created the slowest-selling August-to-November period in seven years. Culprits were high prices and expensive mortgages. Meanwhile, homeowners and builders boosted the supply of residences for sale.

Here’s what my trusty spreadsheet told me when looking at house-hunting patterns at the neighborhood level in 2018’s August-to-November period vs. the same timeframe in ’17.

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CoreLogic found these 14 trends in 8 ZIP codes covered by the Orange County Register’s Saddleback News weekly, …

1. Purchases: Home sales in this period totaled 1,835 vs. 2,138 a year earlier, a decline of 14.2 percent.

2. Who’s up: Prices increased in 6 of the 8 ZIPs as sales rose in 3 ZIPs.

3. Countywide: $725,000 median selling price, up 3.6 percent. Orange County sales totaled 11,429 residences, existing and new, vs. 13,178 a year earlier, a decline of 13.3 percent. Prices rose in 56 out of 83 Orange County ZIPs and sales were up in 17 out of 83 ZIPs.

Here is how prices and sales moved at the community level …

4. Mission Viejo 92691: $687,500 median, up 1.6 percent. Price rank? 49th of 83. Sales of 194 vs. 261 a year earlier, a decline of 25.7 percent.

5. Mission Viejo 92692: $702,500 median, up 8.9 percent. Price rank? No. 46 of 83. Sales of 248 vs. 257 a year earlier, a decline of 3.5 percent.

6. Lake Forest 92630: $725,000 median, down 1.4 percent. Price rank? No. 38 of 83. Sales of 309 vs. 477 a year earlier, a decline of 35.2 percent.

7. Foothill Ranch 92610: $855,000 median, up 19.1 percent. Price rank? No. 23 of 83. Sales of 73 vs. 62 a year earlier, a gain of 17.7 percent.

8. Rancho Santa Margarita 92688: $613,500 median, up 6.7 percent. Price rank? No. 64 of 83. Sales of 194 vs. 290 a year earlier, a decline of 33.1 percent.

9. Trabuco/Coto 92679: $953,000 median, up 9.5 percent. Price rank? No. 17 of 83. Sales of 167 vs. 207 a year earlier, a decline of 19.3 percent.

10. Ladera Ranch/Rancho Mission Viejo 92694: $754,000 median, down 7.8 percent. Price rank? No. 33 of 83. Sales of 425 vs. 392 a year earlier, a gain of 8.4 percent.

11. San Juan Capistrano 92675: $834,500 median, up 11.3 percent. Price rank? No. 27 of 83. Sales of 225 vs. 192 a year earlier, a gain of 17.2 percent.

Plus, three more countywide trends found in August to November compared to the same period in ’17 …

12. Single-family-home resales: 6,761 Orange County sales vs. 7,836 a year earlier, a decline of 13.7 percent in the period. Median: $772,000 — a rise of 2.3 percent in the period.

13. Condo resales: 2,977 sales vs. 3,485 a year earlier, a decline of 14.6 percent in 12 months. Median: $505,000 — a rise of 3.2 percent in a year.

14. New homes: Builders sold 1,691 residences vs. 1,857 a year earlier, a decline of 8.9 percent in 12 months. Median: $955,000 — a rise of 11.9 percent in a year.