Sweet Orange

Orange County Housing Graphs Courtesy Redfin: inventory, house price per square foot, condos price per square foot

According to DataQuick, the most recent housing numbers for Orange County are as follows:

• Sales are up 5.7%: 5034 homes sold in February 2010 vs 4590 homes sold in February  2009.
• The median selling price was up 11.2%: $417,000 in February 2010 vs $375,000 in February 2009.

For comparison here are some Redfin numbers:

• Redfin reports that the number of Orange County homes that sold in December 2009 was 3401, up 30% from December 2008.
• The median selling price in December 2009 was $415,000, which is up 7.7% from their December 2008 number. Redfin also reports that the December 2009 median price per square foot was $270, which is also up (1.5%).

Note that the price per square foot suggests less of a price increase for Orange County housing than does the overall price.

For a look at what is going on in with housing prices in Costa Mesa, I provided the numbers for the highest- and lowest-priced homes in Costa Mesa as well as the numbers for a Costa Mesa home that is near the median. Here they are:

The highest priced home in Costa Mesa is currently at 369 22nd Street. This home is located in Eastside Costa Mesa (92627) near the Newport Bay. Note that the current listing price is reduced by 15% from the original listing price.

• Asking price: $2,990,000 ($516/SF)
• HOA fee: n/a
• What: detached house built in 2004
• Size: 4 beds/6 baths with 5800 square feet
• Previously sold: February 10, 1996 for $540,000
• Price reductions:
  * listed April 16,2009 for $3,495,000
  * price reduced on July 22, 2009 to #3,295,000
  * price reduced on August 21, 2009 to $2,990,000

The lowest priced home in Costa Mesa is currently at 1654 Iowa Street, Unit B. This short sale is  located in the Mesa Verde neighborhood  (92626). Note that the current listing price is approximately 50% below the previous 2006 selling price.

• Asking price: $209,990 ($234/SF)
• HOA fee: $250/month
• What: condo built in 1971
• Size: 2 beds/1 bath with 897 square feet
• Previously sold: April 21, 2006 for $406,000

An example of a mid-priced Costa Mesa home is at 832 Presidio Drive. This home is located in Central Costa Mesa (92626) near Tewinkle Park, Orange County Fair Grounds, Orange Coast College, South Coast Plaza as well as many freeways. This is a short sale.

• Asking price: $439,000 ($338/SF)
• HOA fee: n/a
• What: detached house built in 1960
• Size: 3 beds/62baths with 1200 square feet (7200 SF lot)
• Previously sold: July 17, 2009 for $439,000 and July 12, 1994 for $184,000

Following are some housing number from Trulia for Irvine’s Northwood neighborhood. These numbers cover February to March 2009. These statistics are for all Northwood homes (both detached and condos) and are based on the sale of 51 homes in that three-month period. This is a sales increase of 2% from the previous quarter.

Median Sold Price: $540,000

• up 5.4% from the previous period (January to February 2009)
• down 14.1% from the same period of the previous year
• up 16.1% when compared to the same period of 5 years ago

% of homes on the market that are in distress: 95%

• number of homes on the market: 102
• number of homes on the market that are in distress: 97

Even in these tough times, I thought that 95% was a high number for distressed home on the market in Irvine’s Northwood, so I rechecked the numbers. Here is exactly what Trulia say on this: “There are currently 101 resale and new homes in Northwood on Trulia, including 96 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process.”

So unless Trulia meant to write in addition to instead of including, the 95% number is correct. Also, recent numbers from Redfin showing approximately 100 Northwood homes on the market gives credence to the 95% distressed homes number. If anyone has any contrary information on this, please leave a comment.

By the way, recent information from DataQuick shows that notice of defaults in Orange County are up 19% from last year.

In the queue: more Orange County distress home sales information and a look at Redfin’s Northwood numbers, which among other things breaks down the median sold price per square foot into the detached homes and condo categories