Here’s a piece of positive news you won’t see on the front page of your local real estate section: first-time buyers are entering the Orange County housing market at a record high and they’re purchasing in premiere neighborhoods that were outside of their reach a few years ago.

In Orange County, the percentage of first-time buyers who could afford to purchase an entry-level home in Orange County rose to 60 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010—the highest since 2000 when the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® started calculating the first-time homebuyer affordability index. These first-time buyers—many of them in their 30s and savvy Internet users—are entering the market in desirable neighborhoods like Costa Mesa, Irvine and even posh Newport Beach and Corona del Mar, poised to take advantage of historically low interest rates, lower home prices and quality first-time buyer mortgage programs. Trisha Marshall, a sales associate in Coldwell Banker’s Newport Beach Coast Highway office, has recently seen an influx of first-time buyers purchasing homes in areas where they would have been priced out a few years ago.

“They are very tech savvy, and among the most discriminating consumers on the market,” said Marshall. “They really do their homework, and most of the time, they are pre-qualified before walking in my door. I’m often impressed by the amount of knowledge they have about complex real estate transactions like short sales, and if not, they are willing to learn, when they see that the value is there along with attractive low interest rates. One client of mine, a young couple with a new baby, watched the market for more than a year before deciding to buy. We were able to find a short sale home in Eastside Costa Mesa originally priced for $625,000, and we negotiated the price down to $575,000. They could not be happier with the value they got.”

What’s happening on the ground here in Orange County is reflective of what other first-time buyers have experienced across nation. In a recent Coldwell Banker Real Estate survey of 300 consumers who purchased their first home in the last year, 87 percent said finding a move-in ready home is important to them.

• 67 percent said the market afforded them the opportunity to buy a home sooner than expected
• Half said they found a home in a more desirable neighborhood than expected
• 61 percent were able to get the home at a better price than expected
• 40 percent got more space than expected
• 43 percent locked in a lower interest rate than expected

When you look at the fact that the median price of an existing single-family home in Orange County is $415,000—41 percent lower than the peak in 2006, but 3.75 percent higher than 2008—2011 is an opportune time to buy an entry level home. Like many of other happy first-time homeowners, you might be pleasantly surprised to find that your starter home could actually be your dream home.