Sweet Orange

Up next on our Costa Mesa then-and-now tour is 458 Swarthmore Lane 92626, which is a 3 bed/1.75 bath, single-family home in College Park (Central Costa Mesa).

Asking price in November 2009: $539,000 or $393 per SF

Current status: This College Park home sold in December 2009 for the November 2009 asking price, $539,000 or $393 per SF.

HOA and Mellos Roos: none listed

Of note: Current estimates for this home are from $454,000 to $548,000.

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

178 Flower

According to Redfin, the median price per square foot that a single-family home in Costa Mesa sold for in September was $403/SF. Here are some Costa Mesa homes that are currently on the market that have list prices that are near this median price per square foot.

458 Swarthmore Lane

The square footage for these detached houses range from 1470 square feet (458 Swarthmore Lane) to 3504 square feet  (178 Flower Street). The house on La Playa has a $90 monthly homeowner association (HOA) fee listed; the other houses have no HOA fee listed. None of these houses are listed as a short sale; however, the Swarthmore Lane house is listed as corporate owned.

178 Flower Street: 5 bed/5.5 baths in Eastside Costa Mesa 92627
Asking price–$1,399,000 or $399 per SF

2189 Tustin Avenue: 3 bed/2.5 baths in Eastside Costa Mesa 92627
Asking price–$1,249,000 or $416 per SF

157 Del  Mar Avenue: 3 bed/2.75 bath in Eastside Costa Mesa 92627
Asking price–$599,000 or $408 per SF (update: changed November 2 to $579,900 or $394/SF)

2296 La Playa Drive: 2 bed/2 bath in Eastside Costa Mesa 92627
Asking price–$574,900 or $396 per SF (update: changed November 2 to $549,900 or $379/SF)

458 Swarthmore Lane: 3 bed/1.75 bath in Central Costa Mesa 92626
Asking price–$539,000 or $393 per SF

Note: According to DQNews, in September, Costa Mesa’s overall median selling price for condos and houses combined was $485,000. According to Redfn, the overall medain selling price in August for Costa Mesa houses was $551,000, and the overall medain selling price for Costa Mesa condos was $300,000.

Following are some recent housing numbers, including the foreclosure numbers, for Costa Mesa that are broken down by ZIP code. These numbers, provided by Trulia, are for condo and detached homes combined.

Alto Research numbers, which are for detached homes only, currently give Costa Mesa a Market Action Index of 17.70 (30 or below is a buyers’ market). According to Redfin, approximately 70% of the Costa Mesa homes on market are detached.

Also, according to an article by Matt Padilla, the rate of foreclosures fell in both Costa Mesa ZIPs: The 92627 foreclosure rate dropped by 37 percent, and the 92626 rate dropped somewhere between 40% to 59% from the previous year. However, as the numbers below show, although the rate of foreclosures is decreasing in Costa Mesa, the number of foreclosures is still high.

92626 (South Coast Metro, Central, Mesa Verde)

• Average List Price (week ending 8-05-09): $599,086 ($304 per SF)
• Median Selling Price (May-July 2009): $495,000
• % home that are in foreclosure: 52.6%*
  (163 new and resale homes for sale, as well as 181 foreclosures**)

92627 (Eastside, Central, Southwest)

• Average List Price (week ending 8-05-09): $587,880 ($376 per SF)
• Median Selling Price (May-July 2009): $467,500
• % home that are in foreclosure: 50.3%*
  (237 new and resale homes for sale, as well as 240 foreclosures**)

**homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process

COSTA MESA HOME SALES GRAPH COURTESY CITY-DATA.COM

Tomorrow: some Costa Mesa community data numbers