10 things to know about Orange County homebuying’s worst slump since 2012

Just how slow is the housing market?

For nine consecutive months through April, CoreLogic housing stats show countywide sales failing to top the year-ago period. That slump has led to a nine-month period with the smallest number of Orange County home purchases in seven years.

Here are 10 trends you should know about the market’s current cooling that dates to August 2018 — nine months of sales vs. the same period a year earlier …

1. Pricing: Median was flat at $720,000. At the neighborhood level, prices were up in 43 of 83 Orange County ZIP codes compared with the previous year.

2. Sales: 22,872 Orange County residences sold, off 16% in 12 months. Sales rose in only nine of 83 Orange County ZIPs.

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3. Single-family home resales: 13,720 — down 15% from a year earlier. Median selling price was $767,000 — down 1%.

4. Condos resales: 6,038 — down 16%. Median was $500,000, flat over the year.

5. Builder sales: 3,114 — down 22%. Median was $981,500 — up 7.3%.

6. Builders’ share of sales: 13.6% vs. 17.5% a year earlier.

7. Bargains: In the 27 least expensive ZIP codes — median of $650,000 and below — 6,148 homes sold vs. 7,439, a 17% drop.

8. $500,000 and below: There were six of these ZIPs vs. four a year earlier. Sales in these more affordable neighborhoods totaled 1,086 vs. 811 a year earlier — up 34% in a year.

9. Upper crust: In the 27 priciest ZIPs — median of $797,500 and higher — 7,702 homes sold vs. 9,082 12 months earlier. That’s a 15% dip.

10. Seven-figure sales: In the 12 ZIPs with medians above $1 million, sales were 2,718 homes. That’s down 20% in a year. There were 11 seven-figure ZIPs a year earlier.