A former resident of Orange County, Calif., I always pay attention to my hometown — and what’s taking place in housing behind the proverbial “Orange Curtain” in southern California underscores the reality in many housing markets nationwide. In a word: foreclosures. The Orange County Register’s Jon Lansner posted some data on the local housing market Monday afternoon, courtesy of local real estate agent Steve Thomas:

Distressed properties are a huge part of the real estate game. As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 40.1% of the market last week vs. 39.6% two weeks earlier. Since Dec. 27, the number of distressed homes on the market has grown 2,195 while the non-distressed supply is 2,870 lower.

That sales bump reported by the NAR for May? We don’t think you need look any further than the market shift now taking place in areas like Orange County to find a reason why; investors buying cheap REO. That’s not the sort of sales activity that portends a market turnaround, for the record. A look at the data posted by the Register shows hundreds — yes hundreds — of distressed properties over the $1 million mark. We’ll be taking a look at the health of the luxury home market in key locales in our inaugural HOUSINGWIRE magazine, so be sure to subscribe today, if you haven’t already.