Back-to-school moves and the homes that wait for them

This Week

Families who wanted to be in before the first day of school have moved. What is left in late August is the buyer who is not on a school clock — more patient, more price-sensitive, and much more likely to wait for the September listings.

The Market Minute

• Family-sized homes in the strongest school attendance areas: the first thing to slow in late August, every year.
• Smaller homes and condos: steadier, because that buyer is not moving for a school.
• Sellers listing in September: the ones photographed and priced before Labor Day get the first wave of attention.
• Rates: not the deciding factor for most of the homes we are selling in this price band.

Fresh on the Market

Around the County

Spotlight on Baker Ranch: three private clubhouses, no Mello-Roos, and a steady stream of Irvine buyers who work out what their money does one city inland.