Sweet Orange

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

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:

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