San Clemente, a part of Orange County, is one of the communities that was hit, but not devastated by the sub prime mortgage crisis and subsequent nationwide recession. San Clemente did suffer some adverse effects from the collapse of the real estate bubble, but seems to be in something of a state of recovery. There are a number of contradictory signs, but the majority of the statistics seem to indicate two things - one that the market could have potentially bottomed out, and two that something of a recovery is on the way. There are a number of confounding factors when it comes to analyzing markets such as the San Clemente real estate market.
For example, according to Realtor Liana Norman, a drop during the summer months is typical for California and Orange County in particular. According to her blog posted on Realty Times, “While celebrating the 4th of July and enjoying the warm weather and California surf, demand for Orange County homes dropped by 7%, a typical drop for this time of year. The average drop in demand over the past five years has been 8%. This year is no exception.” On the other hand, homes are tending to stay on the market for shorter periods of time, meaning that there is some interest in purchasing properties on the San Clemente real estate market.
The rate of foreclosures in San Clemente as well as Orange County at large has been fluctuating between high rates and purchasing rates. According to a July 16th article in the Orange County Register found that “there were 374 foreclosures for sale in Orange County, which seems like an incredibly small number. It indicates demand is strong for cheaper foreclosures...” San Clemente real estate has been driven all the way back down to the levels found in 2004, meaning that buyers have great opportunities but sellers aren't getting quite their money's worth. San Clemente is also seeing a larger number of so-called “short sales” - house sales that aren't quite foreclosures and generally do not involve the bank stepping in, but which are nonetheless made out of financial necessity on a curtailed time schedule.