Selling Prices Up In OC: San Juan Capistrano Open Houses

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — It's time to border those front yard garden beds with bright orange and yellow fall mums, and keep the spooky Halloween decor to a tasteful pumpkin or two, if you are in the market to sell your San Juan Capistrano area home. According to Realtor.com, you can increase the selling price by 20-percent with a few curb appeal improvements. That's a lot, considering home prices are on the rise across southern California.

The median price of a home in Los Angeles County rose by 9.5 percent in September, compared with the same month a year earlier, while the number of homes sold dipped by 3.6 percent, a real estate information service announced Tuesday.

In Orange County, the median price was $710,000 last month, up 10.9 percent from $640,000 in September 2016. The number of homes sold rose by 4.6 percent, from 3,191 in September 2016 to 3,338 last month.

A total of 20,956 new and resale houses and condos changed hands in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month, according to CoreLogic. That was down 12.9 percent from 24,055 in August and down 1.7 percent from 21,325 in September 2016.

The median price of a Southern California home was $505,000 in September, up 1 percent from $500,000 in August and up 9.8 percent from $460,000 in September 2016.

According to CoreLogic, the median price of a Los Angeles County home was $575,000 last month, up from $525,000 in September 2016. A total of 6,921 homes were sold in the county, down from 7,179 during the same month the previous year.

"The Southern California median sale price's climb back to the peak it reached more than a decade ago reflects the region-wide strengthening of home prices, which has boosted homeowner equity and helped spur consumer spending and economic growth," said Andrew LePage, research analyst with CoreLogic. "In inflation-adjusted terms, however, the region's median last month was still almost 13 percent below its 2007 peak."

Are you ready to have your open house? Here are some sure fire ways to earn that curb appeal, according to Realtor.com:

• Replace the entry door with a steel, door.
• Replace the garage door.
• Wash the windows.
• Repair or replace the roof.
• Clear the gutters.
• Replace the siding.
• Tuck-point the bricks (scrape out loose mortar & replace).
• Replace the windows seen from the front yard.
• Paint the exterior.
• Mow the lawn.
• Trim the hedges.
• Plant flowerbeds with bright flowers and ornamental grasses.
• Trim trees.
• Power-wash the porch and deck.
• Check the doorbell.
• Leave a light on.

Add strategically placed solar lights around your yard to highlight all of that amazing front yard work, for when your buyers are sure to drive by after dark.

See this home on Realtor.com.