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Health & Fitness

Price Hikes Coming For Your Laguna Beach Home?

Laguna Beach realtor Hillary Caston zeroes in on a banking trend and reveals what it could mean for Orange County home prices.

Grab a deal on Laguna Beach real estate while you can. It may be sooner than later this Orange County housing market is bottoming out. Things have started heating up again. Sure enough, banks are doing their part to crank up the heat. If the current lending trend is any indicator, you may very well see price hikes coming for your Laguna Beach home ... sooner than you think. Unfortunately, you won’t know it until the market zooms past, leaving you in the dust.

Here’s how the financial winds are blowing. According to a recent USA Today article, banks are making more and more commerical business loans. The bullish attitude stems from our improving economy and a drop in unemployment claims. It’s only a matter of time before banks loosen up with mortgage money, allowing more people to buy homes. Sellers no doubt will respond to the expected buying frenzy with price hikes.

I’m not saying the bargains will vanish from the Laguna Beach marketplace overnight. Plenty of juicy deals are still waiting to be snapped up. I’m just pointing out that buyers must face reality. As the number of people getting mortgage loans rises, so will the demand for homes. And, according to the immutable laws of economics, that means rising prices.

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Case in point – I just emerged from a bidding war with 13 other agents over a Laguna Beach fixer. Sure, it had an ocean view that would make your jaw drop. But it needed a total remodel. Guess the buyers didn’t notice. Because this diamond-in-the-rough flew off the shelf for an astounding $125,000 over asking price. All cash! I can feel it in the air. There’s a real drive to buy again.

How far and how fast prices will rise is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure. The longer you delay, the higher the prices will be. Do you really want to wait until you’ve lost a small fortune? Far better to get in on the ground floor while there’s still an open doorway.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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