Small Homes Sell: Case in Point, the Ivy neighborhood in Irvine’s Woodbury East Development

In the current housing market, developers have difficulty selling their new constructions. So the quick sell out of the 13 available homes in Ivy, a neighborhood in the Woodbury East development in Irvine, might provide insight on a way forward for the building industry. The Ivy homes sold out within approximately 15 minutes of the July 11th grand opening. The key is that these Irvine Company homes (built by William Lyons Homes) fill a need and desire for smaller and, therefore, more affordable homes.

Developers in Orange County have largely neglected building the homes that fit this smaller model. For example, a few years back John Laing Homes (now bankrupt) built the first Woodbury East homes in the Celadon neighborhood. Only 8 of the larger Celadon homes (1594-1782 square feet) were built, and they remain unsold. When the Caledon homes went on sale in 2007, the asking price was in the mid-$500,000.

Perhaps the building industry is taking note of the Ivy-Caledon example and is including this information in their upcoming business models.

More Ivy development details: Current plans call for the Ivy development to eventually consist of 58 homes that range in size from 1180 square feet to 1503 square feet. Prices will range from $349,990 to $423,990. The next round of sales will be in four to six weeks. In addition to the principal, interest and property taxes, home ownership costs will consists of approximately $3,971 in Mello Roos fees, $134 for the monthly master association fee, and $175 for the monthly sub-association fee. Homes will be ready for move-in some time in 2010.

Additional posts on the Ivy development:

• Ivy. an Irvine Woodbury East Development, Opens with Smaller, More Affordable Housing Options
• Pros and Cons of New Irvine Development: Ivy, a Woodbury East Neighborhood
• Deja Vu in Woodbury East! Phase Two Iof vy Development Sells Out in 15 Minutes–Prices Increased

As I stated in the past, two types of areas were particularly appealing to flippers: low-end homes such as many found in Santa Ana and newly built tracts with high price tags. Northwood II is in the second category. Larry Roberts (IrvineRenter) highlights this in one of his post (S.O.S The Market is Sinking), and a discussion on the Redfin Orange County forum also highlights this. I have also highlighted this in past posts.

The Northwood area has some of the lowest priced homes in Irvine. These are homes found on Streamwood, Pineview, Lakepines, Monroe and Remington. A few examples are 25 Streamwood, 76 Lakepines, 217 Pinewood, 69 Remington, and 460 Monroe.  (Note: Orangetree is another area that has some of the most affordable housing in Irvine.)

With an asking price of $1,799,000, the most expensive home on the Northwood market is 20 Canyonwood, which is in guard-gated Northwood Point. Right behind that is 22 Purple Moor, which is  in newly built, highly flipped Northwood II and has an asking price of $1,497,000.

Although many of the older Northwood homes have homeowners association fees, some do not. In other words, if no HOA fee and no HOA restrictions are important to you, the older homes in this area might give you this option.

When it comes to the more newly built homes, count on an HOA fee and the restrictions that come with them. On the other hand, if you like the idea of the extra amenities and reduced amount of maintenance that you will have to deal with, Northwood has those options available in the new and some of the older developments.

Finally, Northwood has a mix of detached homes and condos. There are currently a little more than double the number of detached homes on the Northwood housing market than there are condos.

In the queue: a look at a sample of the Northwood housing stock

Following are the Irvine detached home numbers that cover the last six months. For previous Irvine detached home stats, see  my post from my past life as a Redfin blogger. More later on what these housing numbers mean.

Tomorrow: a look at the Irvine condo statistics

Median List Sales Price:

• March 20, 2009: $850K/$370 per square foot
• February 22, 2009: $849K/$375 per square foot
• January 30, 2009: $859K/$376 per square foot
• December 31, 2008: $850K/$370 per square foot
• November 30, 2008: $875K/$375 per square foot
• October 27, 2008: $899K/$378 per square foot

Median Sold Price*:

• March 20, 2009: $700K/$326 per square foot
• February 22, 2009: $710K/$326 per square foot
• January 30, 2009: $743K/$328 per square foot
• December 31, 2008: $730K/$332 per square foot
• November 30, 2008: $690K/$327 per square foot
• October 27, 2008: $699K/$330 per square foot

Median Days on Market*:

• March 20, 2009: 91
• February 22, 2009: 96
• January 30, 2009: 92
• December 31, 2008: 85
• November 30, 2008: 82
• October 27, 2008: 83

Number of Homes on the Market (Inventory):

• March 20, 2009: 448 (17 foreclosures)
• February 22, 2009: 434 (17 foreclosures)
• January 30, 2009: na
• December 31, 2008: 351 (24  foreclosures)
• November 30, 2008: 386 (17 foreclosures)
• October 27, 2008: 383 (6 foreclosures)

Market Action Index (Source: Altos Research, see note below) :

• March 22, 2009: 16.35
• February 22, 2009: 16.85
• January 30, 2009: 16.48
• December 31, 2008: 19.31
• November 30, 2008: 18.93
• October 26, 2008: 19.32

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.

*Based on homes sold or taken off market in the previous 90 days. These include MSL-listed, for-sale-by-owner, and bank-foreclosure homes.

Source unless otherwise noted: Redfin