Town Gets a Place on Magazine’s List for Pricey Homes

Villa Park has traditionally been considered the wealthiest town in Orange County, but a look at real estate indicates Coto de Caza has the county’s most expensive homes.

Coto de Caza, a small South County community of 3,457 people, has the distinction of being the community with the highest median home price--$504,900--in Orange County, according to Nancy Sheed, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan-based Worth magazine, which recently used home prices to measure the wealthiest 238 cities in the country.

“Home prices, in a sense, represent what it costs to join one of these communities,” Worth editors wrote in the June issue.

In addition to Coto de Caza, which ranked 78th, four other Orange County cities made the Worth list: Newport Beach (108, with a median home value of $455,000), Villa Park (138, $410,000), La Habra Heights (232, $304,000) and Seal Beach (236, $300,000). Rolling Hills in Los Angeles County--ranked third--had the most expensive homes in California with a median price of $1.1 million.

But Villa Park remains one of wealthiest towns in the county. That impression was solidified last year when Worth magazine used U.S. Census Bureau data to analyze household incomes. Then, Villa Park emerged as the wealthiest community locally, with a median household income of $171,000.

“This is a pretty affluent area,” Villa Park City Manager Fred Maley said. “We have only single-family homes owned by professionals, business people and athletes.”

Indeed, the small community of nearly 6,000 people has only one shopping center. Ralphs grocery store is the biggest business in town and residents mail their letters at the local pharmacy.

“It’s just a nice peaceful community,” Maley said.