Sweet Orange

109 Lamplighter, Irvine 92620 (Woodbury)

Following are DataQuick’s March 2010 median selling prices and number of sales for each of Irvine’s ZIP codes. If you scroll down the numbers, you will see that the housing market in Irvine is looking up at the moment.

92602

• March 2010 Median Selling Price: $634,250 (up 3.38%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 26 (up 30.00%)

92603

• March 2010 Median Selling Price: $847,500 (up 48.68%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 34 (up 70.00%)

92604

• March 2010 Median Selling Price:$525,000 (up 3.96%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 36 (up 89.47%)

92606

• March 2010 Median Selling Price: $613,000 (up 12.07%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 15 (up 25.00%)

92612

• March 2010 Median Selling Price: $430,000 (down 1.83%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 34 (up 100.00%)

92614

• March 2010 Median Selling Price: $525,000 (up 46.14%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 21 (up 61.54%)

92618

• March 2010 Median Selling Price: $602,500 (up 28.26%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 35 (up 483.33%)

92620

• March 2010 Median Selling Price: $637,500 (up 6.25%)
• March 2010 Number of Sales: 59 (up 156.52%)

The City of Irvine has been ranked as one of the country’s “Smarter Cities,” by the Natural Resources Defense Council for its strides in environmental stewardship, sustainable growth, and livability. Irvine ranked 13th among the 178 medium-sized cities surveyed.–City of Irvine website

One of the programs that helped Irvine obtain the “Smarter Cities” award was the giveaway of over 60,000 CFL light bulbs to Irvine residents.

An ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.–EPA

Irvine’s award-winning program that distributed 71,706 to Irvine residents between 2006 to 2008 achieved the following benefits:

• An annual saving to Irvine residents of $392,000
• Annual carbon emissions reduction of 1,421 tons
• The carbon emissions reduction is equivalent to taking 241 cars off the road every year.

The City exceeded its goal of distributing 60,000 CFLs to Irvine residents.

To see a list of additional programs that make the City of Irvine one of the country’s “Smarter Cities,” see the City’s Environmental Programs page.

Graphic Courtesy City of Irvine

Here are the some recent numbers for Costa Mesa by ZIP. The 92626 ZIP includes South Coast Metro, part of Central and Mesa Verde. The 92627 ZIP includes Eastside, Southwest and part of Central Costa Mesa.

DataQuick March 2010 Median Selling Price

• 92626: $515,000 (up 12% from March 2009)
• 92627: $467,500 (up 24.7% from March 2009)

DataQuick March 2010 Number of Sales

• 92626: 32 (down 22.0% from March 2009)
• 92627: 36 (up 24.1% from March 2009)

Redfins’s January 2010 Median Price per Square Foot

92626:

• house–$310 (up 1.6 from January 2009)
• condo–$242 (down 4.7%  from January 2009)
• both–$275 (down 2.1%  from January 2009)

92627:

• house–$346 (up 0.7 from January 2009)
• condo–$275 (down 10.1 from January 2009)
• both–$312 (down 2.4 from January 2009)

Sources: DataQuick, Redfin

Graphic of the Performing Arts Center in the South Coast Metro area of Costa Mesa Courtesy Costa Mesa Conference and Visitor Bureau

Following are some home for sale in Costa Mesa’s Mesa Verde area. My intention is to follow these homes to see how home values hold up in this area. I will do this in two ways: I will report how the eventual selling price compares to the current list price, and I will report what some of the appraisal sites list as the home value.

1659 New Hampshire Drive, Mesa Verde, Costa Mesa

• What: 1971 single-family home with 3 bedrooms/2 baths
• Size: 1775 SF
• Fees/taxes: No HOA or Mello Roos
• Asking price: $639,000 ($360/SF)
• Listed in September 2009 for: $699,000

Appraisals for1569 New Hampshire Drive: Low/Medium/High

• Zillow: $417,350/$491,000/$520,460
• Eppraisal: $442,018/$520,022/$598,025
• Cyberhomes: $447,460 /$497,178/$571,754

1778 Iowa Street, Mesa Verde, Costa Mesa

• What: 1960 single-family home with 3 bedrooms/2 baths
• Size: 1571 SF
• Fees/taxes: No HOA or Mello Roos
• Asking price: $595,000 ($379/SF)
• Sold in January 2004 for: $550,000.

Appraisals for 1778 Iowa Street: Low/Medium/High

• Zillow: $419,475/$493,500/$537,915
• Eppraisal: $433,401/$509,884/$586,366
• Cyberhomes: $384,870/$427,634/$491,779

Earlier in the week I posted information that listed some of  Southern California Edison’s (SCE) green rebate programs for home and  apartment owners.

Today’s post lists some of SCE’s green rebate programs for businesses. Again, this information is straight from Irvine’s environmental programs webpage. But the rebates are available to all SCE businesses, not just Irvine businesses.

SCE provides a wide variety of rebates and other incentives to small, medium and large commercial customers. A brief description of each program is below.

• Express Efficiency - provides rebates for a wide variety of energy efficient products - lighting, refrigeration, food service, agriculture, air conditioning and premium efficiency motors to retrofit existing buildings.

• California New Homes Program - provides financial incentives to builders and developers for exceeding Title 24 Energy Standards in new home construction.

• Retro Commissioning - provides an in-depth investigation of building operation and maintenance improvements to HVAC mechanical equipment, lighting, refrigeration and related controls to optimize energy usage and reduce inefficiencies in existing commercial buildings.

• Savings By Design - provides assistance in the designing of energy efficient commercial buildings and incentives to owners to offset the costs of energy efficient buildings and to designers who meet ambitious energy efficiency targets. For more information visit www.savingsbydesign.com or call (800) 338-8502.

• California Solar Initiative - provides incentives on a per watt basis for solar generation.

For more information on SCE’s business rebates, see SCE’s Energy Management Solution webpage.

Related post: The Gas Company Green Rebates for Homes (and Businesses)

Source: City of Irvine, Green Building Resource Guide

Following is a list of green energy rebates that Southern California Edison (SCE) offers to owners of residential buildings. The list is from the City of Irvine’s webpage, so no original writing here–just some good information.

Although the list is from Irvine’s environmental programs webpage, the rebates are available to all SCE residential customers. This includes separate rebates for homeowners and apartment owners.

SCE offers a rebate program that allows residents to save money and energy. The rebate program offers cash rebates on qualifying energy-efficient upgrades or improvements you make to your home. A brief description of available rebates is below.

Appliances

• ENERGY STAR® Qualified Refrigerator Rebate Program - Receive $50 back.
• Refrigerator & Freezer Recycling Program - Receive $50 back.
• Energy Efficient Electric Water Heater Rebate Program - Receive $30 back.

Heating and Cooling

• ENERGY STAR® Qualified Room Air Conditioner - Receive up to $50 back.
• Summer Discount Plan - Receive up to $200 back.
• Whole House Fan - Receive up to $50 back.
• Evaporative Cooling - Receive up to $600 back.
• Cool Roof - Receive up to $0.20 per square foot on qualified roofing materials.

Lighting

• ENERGY STAR® Qualified Lighting - Save up to $125.
• Lighting Emitting Diode - Save up to $6 per month.

Pool Maintenance

• Pool Pump Rebate Program - Receive up to $200 back.

Renewable Energy

• California Solar Initiative

For multifamily building owners and managers, SCE also provides rebates for energy efficiency improvements in the categories of lighting, HVAC, insulation and windows to retrofit existing multifamily properties of two or more units through the Multifamily Energy Efficiency Rebate Program.

For more information on SCE rebates for homeowners and multi-unit owners, see SCE’s Home Rebate and Savings page.

Research by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) revealed that three factors are influencing homebuyers to shift their preference to smaller homes than were preferred in the recent past. These factors are an economy in recession, first-time homebuyers making up a larger portion of the homebuying market than has traditionally been the case, and the 55+ age group making up a larger portion of the homebuying market than has traditionally been the case.

The NAHB report, which was published in January 2010, found that builders are adjusting to the new market demands.  To meet current market desires, ninety-five percent of the builders that were surveyed for the NAHB report stated that smaller homes were part of their upcoming business plans. In fact, builders have already made adjustments.

In 2008, the average square footage of a new home was 2,520 square feet; however, in 2009, the average square footage of a new home was 2,480 square feet. The last time a decline in the average square footage of newly built homes was this large was 1982.

As reported in the Walls Street Journal, the following features are those that the NAHB research found to be most and least desirable to potential buyers in 2010:

Most desirable:

• Walk-in closets in the master bedroom
• Laundry rooms
• Insulated front doors
• Great rooms
• Energy-efficient windows
• Linen closets
• Programmable thermostats
• Energy-efficient appliances and lighting
• Separate shower and tub in master bathrooms
• Nine-foot ceilings on the first floor

Least desirable:

• Outdoor kitchens
• Outdoor fireplaces
• Sunrooms
• Butler’s pantries
• Media rooms
• Desks in kitchens
• Two-story foyers
• Eight foot ceilings on the first floor
• Multiple shower heads in the master bath
• Smaller kitchens

For comparison, a 2008 Better Homes and Garden survey revealed that homebuyers and remodelers found that the following features were the most desirable features to a potential home:

• Impressive kitchens
• Plenty of storage
• A large master bedroom
• Personalized spaces
• Generously-sized laundry rooms

The 2008 Better Homes and Garden survey also found that potential homebuyers preferred sun rooms (36%), extra-large front porches (35%) and oversized laundry rooms (34%) to home offices, exercise rooms, playrooms and wine cellars.

And for more comparison, a 2005 Better Homes and Garden survey identified five trends that the survey respondents wanted in their ideal home:

• Affordability
• Flexibility
• Indoor and outdoor livability
• Innovation
• Kitchen centered

The Crossroads district, one of Irvine’s three geopolicing areas, contains the following Irvine neighborhoods, or as they are called in Irvine, villages:

• Woodbridge

  

  Irvine's Crossroad Geopolicing District

• Westpark (includes Westpark I and Westpark II)
• El Camino (includes Deerfield, The Ranch, The Colony, Irvine Groves, Heritage Park, Greentree, The Willows, Smoketree, and El Camino Glen) 
• Walnut (includes College Park, Harvard Square, Windwood, and  Walnut Village)
• Columbus Groves

To see pricing and inventory information for these Irvine villages, click on the links provided above. This will bring you to Redfin’s Community Overview Page for that village (You can also enter zip codes, city names or neighborhood names in the Search box at the top, left of the Redfin page).

In addition to pricing and inventory information, the Community Overview Page provides the follow information: new listings, open houses, recently sold homes, most expensive listings, least expensive listings, and listings with recent price reductions. Community and school information for these villages is also available.

Note: For a link to Irvine’s webpage that provides information on the help available to residents, see Irvine’s Community Outreach and Education page.