Sweet Orange

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

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.

Here is another venture into my quest to compare and contrast Irvine and Costa Mesa:

Earlier this week I wrote about a home in Irvine’s El Camino neighborhood that sold for about $22,000 more than the asking price. Following is a similar home in Costa Mesa’s Eastside that went the other way: It sold for approximately $22,000 under the most recent asking price. However, the Irvine home is smaller and sold for $358 per square foot, where as this Costa Mesa home sold for $302 per square foot. Both homes sold in October 2009. One more caveat: The HOA fee is approximately $100 more for the Costa Mesa home than it is for the similar Irvine home.

317 Alta Lane 92627 (Eastside Costa Mesa)

• 3 beds/2.25 baths
• 1441 SF
• Condo built in 1975
• HOA: $284
• Asking price: $457,500 ($339/SF)
• Selling price: $435,000 ($302/SF)

Current estimates for this home:

• Cyberhomes: $404,505
• Eappraisal: $344,489
• Zillow: $449,500

Recently, I wrote about two condos in Irvine that were both about 1,400 square feet and selling for about $400,000. One was a 1982 home in Northwood, and the other is part of  the new Ivy development that is located in Woodbury East. In that post, I asked the question: Which of these two homes is a better deal? Well, maybe you prefer to look elsewhere for something cheaper. If so, here is an example of what has sold in Costa Mesa.

At 3431 Pinebrook (South Coast Metro neighborhood) is a 1977 condo with 2 bedroom, 1.75 baths, and 1,254 SF. The home sold on 06/01/2009 for $270,000 ($215/SF). However, a year and a half ago this home was listed for $399,000. Homeowner association fee is $320 per month. No Mellos Roos tax is listed.

This home is somewhat smaller than the Irvine condos, but so was the overall selling price as well as the price per square foot. In addition, this condo has the convenience of being close to South Coast Plaza shopping center and the South Coast Metro Arts and Cultural Center.

Here is the listing history:

Can you make sense of the price increases and decreases for the home at  1174 Boise Way in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Metro area?

Here is what is so confusing: At 1174 Boise Way is a1964 detached house with 3 bedrooms/2 baths, 1291 square feet, and no homeowner association fee. This home has been on the market for almost 500 days and is a short sale. In October 2004, this home sold for $540,000.

On July 10, 2008, it went on the market for $450,000, then, just two days later, it was relisted with a whopping $150,000 increase. This brought the price up to $600,000, but seven months later (January 16) the price was decrease to the previous $450,000.

So when this home didn’t sell, what did the owners do (or the bank required the owners to do)? Decrease the asking price? No, on September 15, 2009, they increased the price by $25,000. However, by October 25, 2009, the home had not sold at the new listing price of $475,000 and was relisted at $460,000

This was a lot of ups and downs just to arrive at an asking price that was near the original asking price that was listed over a year ago. The current list price is $460,000 or $356 per square foot.

A year ago the original price of $450,000 probably looked like a lot better deal than it does today. Perhaps if this home was left at the original list price of $450,000, it would have sold by now.

Listing History

• Oct 25, 2009 Price Changed $460,000 — CARETS #P646291
• Oct 25, 2009 Relisted — – CARETS #P646291
• Oct 20, 2009 Delisted — – CARETS #P646291
• Sep 15, 2009 Price Changed $475,000 — CARETS #P646291
• Sep 14, 2009 Relisted — – CARETS #P646291
• Jan 16, 2009 Delisted — – CARETS #P646291
• Jan 13, 2009 Price Changed $450,000 — CARETS #P646291
• Jul 12, 2008 Price Changed $600,000 — CARETS #P646291
• Jul 10, 2008 Listed $450,000 — CARETS #P646291
• Oct 20, 2004 Sold $540,000 20.6%/yr Public Records
• Mar 06, 2003 Sold $398,000 — Public Records

As a follow up on one of last week’s post, here is a comparison of two single-family houses that are priced near the September median price per square foot for their cities. One is in Irvine; the other is in Costa Mesa.

Irvine house that is priced near the Irvine median price/SF ($338/SF):

64 Rockport, Northpark Neighborhood

• Asking price: $839,000 ($336/SF)
• What: 2000 detached house with 4 bed/2.5 bath with 2500 SF
• Lot size: 4317 SF
• HOA fee: $175/month
• This is a short sale.

Note: An open house is being held for this home on this Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Open house hours:

• November 5 at 11am-1pm
• November 7 at 12 pm-5pm
• November 8 at 1pm-5pm

Costa Mesa house that is priced near the Costa Mesa median price/SF ($403/SF):

2039 Phalarope Court, Mesa Verde Area:

• Asking price: $899,000 ($415/SF)
• What: 1966 detached house with 4 bed/2.5 bath and 2166 SF
• Lot size: 7035 SF
• HOA fee: none listed

Note: In June, this home was listed for $1,050,000. In May 2005, this home sold for $810,000.

I have posts that take a deeper look at Costa Mesa and Irvine homes that are priced near the median price per square foot in the works.