Sweet Orange

411 Emerson, Eastside Costa Mesa

Here is what has happened with some income property in Eastside Costa Mesa:

411 Emerson Street is a 3-bedroom detach home with a 2 bedroom apartment over the garage and is near the Back Bay.  This property sold for $700,000 ($301/SF) on October 20, 2009.

2344 Elden Avenue #3 consists of a duplex in front and a  three-bedroom, detached home with a pool in the back. In October 2009, the asking price for this Eastside Costa Mesa home was $899,000 ($237/SF); in January 2010, the asking price was $799,000. This property is currently off the market.

2378 Norse Way has a two-bedroom detached home with 900 square feet in front and a one-bedroom with 1000 square feet in back. In October 2009, the asking price was $625,000 ($339/SF). This home was taken off the market in November 2009.

South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa

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

Median Selling Price

92626

• April 2010: $512,250 (up 6.4% from April 2009)
• March 2010: $515,000 (up 12% from March 2009)

92627

• April 2010: $435,000 (down 5.6% from April 2009)
• March 2010: $467,500 (up 24.7% from March 2009)

Number of Sales

92626

• April 2010: 28 (down 6.7% from March 2009)
• Marach 2010:  32 (down 22.0% from March 2009)

92627

• April 2010: 30 (down 9.1% from April 2009)
• March 2010: 36 (up 24.1% from March 2009)

Source: DataQuick

Photo Courtesy South Coast Repertory

Last week, I posted the price per square foot numbers for Costa’s Mesa’s 92626 and 92627 ZIPs. For comparison, here are the price per square foot numbers for Costa Mesa as a whole and Orange County as a whole.

February 2010 median price per square foot numbers for all Costa Mesa:

• House–$345 (up 13.7% from February 2009)
• Condo–$243 (up 39.7% from February 2009)
• Both (House + condo)–$304 (up 8.4% from February 2009)

Graphs: Price/SF Costa Mesa houses, Price/SF Costa Mesa condos–February 2010

February 2010 median price per square foot numbers for all Orange County:

• House–$283 (up 4.8% from February 2009)
• Condo–$234 (up 7.8% from February 2009)
• Both (House + condo)–$270 (up 4.7% from February 2009)

Graphs: Price/SF Orange County houses, Price/SF Orange County condos–February 2010

Source:  Redfin

An Eastside Costa Mesa Building

I my previous post I stated that the median price per square foot numbers often give a more accurate picture of the housing market in an area than the overall median price of housing in that area does. I also gave the price per square foot numbers for Costa Mesa’s 92626 ZIP (South Coast Metro, Mesa Verde, and part of Central Costa Mesa).

As a continuation of that thought, here are the recent price per square numbers for Costa Mesa’s other ZIP, 92627. The 92627 ZIP includes Eastside, Southwest and part of Central Costa Mesa.

House

• February 2010–$451 (up 40.5% from February 2009)
• January 2010–$346 (up 0.7 from January 2009)

Condo

• February 2010–$260 (up 16.6% from February 2009)
• January 2010–$275 (down 10.1 from January 2009)

Both (houses + condos)

• February 2010–$333 (up 7.8% from February 2009)
• January 2010–$312 (down 2.4 from January 2009)

Source:  Redfin

Up next: For a little comparison, I will give the price per square foot numbers for all Costa Mesa and all Orange County.

Photo Courtesy livingcostamesa.com

The Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa's South Coast Metro Area

The median price per square foot of homes in an area is often a better indication of whether housing prices are increasing or decreasing in that area than is the increase or decrease of the overall median price in that area.

With that in mind, here are recent median price per square numbers for Costa Mesa’s 92626. The 92626 ZIP includes South Coast Metro, Mesa Verde, and part of Central Costa Mesa.

House

• February 2010–$309 (up 8.0% from February 2009)
• January 2010–$310 (up 1.6 from January 2009)

Condo

• February 2010–$244 (up 63.4% from February 2009)
• January 2010–$242 (down 4.7%  from January 2009)

Both (House + condo)

• February 2010–$305 (up 12.5% from February 2009)
• January 2010–$275 (down 2.1%  from January 2009)

Up next: Eventually I will get to some numbers for Irvine, but up next are numbers for Costa Mesa’s 92627 ZIP: Eastside, Southwest, and part of Central Costa Mesa.

Source: Redfin

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

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.

According to Redfin, the median selling price in December 2009 of all Costa Mesa homes was $467,000 (up 8.6 y-o-y) or $294 per square foot (down 1.8% y-o-y). It is interesting to note that, although the overall price is up, the price per square foot is down from last year.

Here are some other numbers that will enlighten us of what has been happening with the Costa Mesa housing market over the last year or so.

DQNews–median sales price of all Costa Mesa homes
(resold condos, resold detached homes, and new construction homes)

• January 2010: $438,000 (up 2.1% from January 2009)
• January 2009: $426,000 (down 21.11% from January 2008)

Trulia

Average listing price

• week ending March 17, 2010: $569,789 (-0.3% w-o-w)
• week ending May 27, 2009: $587,398 (+12.3% w-o-w)

Median Sold Price

• December 2009 to February 2010: $485,000 (+9.7% y-o-y)
• February 2009 to April 2009: $465,000
• January 2008 to March 2008: $579,000 ($359/SF)

Number of Sales

• December 2009 to February 2010: 181 (-8.6% y-o-y)
• February 2009 to April 2009: 204

% Costa Mesa homes that are in distress*

• week ending March 17, 2010: 41% (358 homes for sale, 251 homes in distress*)
• week ending May 27, 2009: 56% (351 homes  for sale, 438 homes in distress*)

*Distressed homes are defined as those that are in pre-foreclosure, trustee auction or bank-owned stage of the foreclosure process.

Altos Research Market Action Index (single-family homes only)

• March 21, 2010: 20.74
  (Altos Research also shows that the current median list price for single-family homes in Costa Mesa is $573,346 or $331/SF, and the average DOM as 191.)
• March 20, 2009: 15.04

Note: The Altos Market Action Index shows the balance between potential buyers and sellers, in other words, the balance between supply and demand. Above 30 is a sellers’ market; below 30 is a buyers’ market.

Also, note that the Altos numbers are for detached homes only (condos are not included) and that the Altos median sales price and median price per square foot are for the list price, not the sold price.

See if you can figure out the logic of the roller coaster pricing for a recently sold Costa Mesa home:

In October 2008. the asking price for the home at 920 Crocus Circle rose from $750,000 to $830,000. Later the same month, the price fell to an asking price of $800,000. Then, for about six months, the price did a roller coaster ride with repeated increases to $830,000 then fall backs to $800,000.

Next a series of falls: In May 2009, the price fell to $750,000; in August 2009, the price fell to $739,000; in September 2009, the asking price fell again to $700,000. After taking this roller coaster ride for over a year, this home in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Metro area sold for $700,000 in December 2009.

Considering the long ride this home took to reach a sale and the repeated price drops, here is an ironic quote from the online listing: “NO OFFERS BELOW LIST CONSIDERED.”

920 Crocus Circle, South Coast Metro, Costa Mesa 92626

• Selling price; $700,000 ($289/SF)
• What: 1973 detached house
• Size: 5 bedrooms and three baths with 2420 SF
• HOA fee: none

This home was listed under MLS P653661 and P685670.