Lake Forest II neighborhoods are not immune to the real estate downturn that most of Southern California is experiencing!  I spoke with a homeowner this morning who was shocked to hear that the values in his neighborhood had fallen over 15% below the appraisal he had done last summer.  (I’m not happy about that either – I live here too!) 

Part of the problem right now is that there are very few good homes on the market.  Even though there is a large selection, it is pretty poor quality!  Today, of the 58 homes available in Lake Forest II, 27 of them are either in foreclosure and offered as short sales, or they have already been foreclosed on and are now owned by a bank.  Many of the rest of them are in locations that are “challenged” by backing up to busy roads or similar unpopular locations.  The people who might like to sell, but don’t need to sell, are not on the market because the average values are so low right now. 

While the values are not what we saw a year or two ago, I believe they are higher than they will be a year or two from now.  There are still a lot of creative mortgages with adjustments coming over the next two years, so the foreclosure rate is expected to increase.  If you think you may have to (or want to) sell in the next few years, “now” is probably a better time than we will see for quite a while. 

Click on the map below to view all homes that are active or in escrow today.  (The details of each listing are available when you click on the little house icon.)