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Median sale prices show a return to positive growth with a modest 1.38% year-over-year increase in June 2025, breaking the two-month streak of declining prices.
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Inventory levels continue their relentless climb with single-family home inventory showing a 52.42% year-over-year increase in July, reaching new record highs.
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The median listing is now spending 26 days on the market, representing a substantial 44.44% increase compared to the same time last year.
Orange County Shows Signs of Price Stabilization
After two consecutive months of year-over-year price declines, Orange County's housing market is showing signs of stabilization. June 2025 saw the median single-family home selling for $1,470,000, representing a modest 1.38% increase compared to June 2024's $1,450,000. This marks a notable turnaround from the negative growth experienced in April (-1.57%) and May (-0.21%). The median price also demonstrated solid month-over-month growth of 3.56% from May's $1,419,500, suggesting that while the market faced headwinds earlier in the spring, there may be renewed buyer confidence emerging as we move into the traditionally active summer selling season
Inventory Reaches Unprecedented Heights as Supply Continues Its Surge
The Orange County housing market continues to be defined by an extraordinary abundance of available inventory. The latest data for July 2025 shows 4,952 single-family homes on the market, representing a substantial 52.42% increase compared to July 2024. While this growth rate has moderated somewhat from the 79% year-over-year increases seen in previous months, it still represents a continued month-over-month expansion of 4.94% from June's 4,719 homes. This sustained inventory growth throughout the spring and into summer demonstrates that the market remains heavily tilted toward providing buyers with an unprecedented selection of properties, fundamentally altering the negotiation dynamics that have favored sellers in previous years.
Market Pace Slows Significantly as Buyers Exercise Their Options
With the massive inventory available, buyers are clearly taking full advantage of their improved market position by extending their decision-making timelines. The median single-family home in Orange County now sits on the market for 26 days before selling, representing a dramatic 44.44% increase from June 2024's 18 days. This also reflects a significant 13.04% month-over-month increase from May's 23-day average, indicating that the trend toward longer selling times continues to accelerate. This extended timeline represents one of the most significant shifts in market dynamics, giving buyers the ability to thoroughly evaluate multiple properties, conduct detailed due diligence, and negotiate from a position of strength that simply wasn't available during the rapid-fire market conditions of recent years.
Orange County Firmly Establishes Itself as a Buyers' Market
When determining whether a market is a buyers' market or a sellers' market, we look to the Months of Supply Inventory (MSI) metric. The state of California has historically averaged around three months of MSI, so any area with at or around three months of MSI is considered a balanced market. Any market that has lower than three months of MSI is considered a sellers' market, whereas markets with more than three months of MSI are considered buyers' markets.
With 3.4 months of supply inventory in June 2025, Orange County has firmly established itself as a buyers' market. This represents a modest 3.03% month-over-month increase from May's 3.3 months and a significant 36% year-over-year increase from June 2024's 2.5 months of supply. The market has now consistently maintained above-balanced inventory levels for several consecutive months, giving buyers substantial leverage in negotiations. This shift represents a complete reversal from the seller-dominated conditions that characterized much of 2024, and sellers must now adjust their expectations accordingly in terms of both pricing strategy and realistic timelines for completing transactions.
