Orange County home prices ended 2014 up 3.8%, the smallest annual appreciation rate in three years due in part to a decline in investor speculation.
The CoreLogic Home Price Index, which measures sale price changes in more than 900 U.S. metro areas, showed also that Orange County's home price gain in December was the smallest for any month since September 2012.
Housing's appreciation rate here — which peaked at 23% in the summer of 2013 — decreased steadily for 16% months as investor activity and all-cash deals fell and home buyers either were unwilling or unable to buy after a huge run-up in prices in 2013.
Nineteen percent of all Orange County homes sold in 2014 were "absentee buyers," according to CoreLogic DataQuick, down from 27% two winters ago. Cash sales — that is deals without a mortgage — fell to 26% of December's sales, down from 34% two winters ago.
On the other hand, 2014 was the straight third year showing home price gains following six years of falling prices.
CoreLogic bases its index on comparisons between sale prices of single-family homes with prior sales of those same homes.
Nationwide, home prices ended 2014 up 5%, CoreLogic reported. Prices remained 13.4% below the peak of the housing bubble in April 2006.
Prices increased in 47 states, falling in just three: Maryland, Vermont and Connecticut. The biggest gains were in Colorado (up 8.4%), Texas (up 7.8%) and New York (up 7.6%).
Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire were tied for third-highest appreciation rate among large U.S. metro areas, with home prices up 6.5%.
Home prices were up 7% in California as a whole, the seventh-highest gain among states.
©2015 The Orange County Register. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency
