O.C. Home Sales and Prices Rising Fast

The housing market stayed in high gear throughout Southern California in January and shifted into overdrive in Orange County, where prices rose at a double-digit pace not seen since the late 1980s, a real estate data service said Wednesday.

Orange County had its third straight month of double-digit price increases, with a median home price of $212,000, a gain of 14.6% from a year earlier, according to Acxiom/DataQuick Information Services, which monitors all housing sales.

“To get equivalent price jumps in Orange County, you now have to go back to July 1989, when there was this frenzy with a capital F,” said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll.

A total of 2,711 Orange County homes sold during the month, up 18.3% from year-earlier transactions. It was the highest number for the month since January 1989, when 3,646 sold, Karevoll said.

Observers said low interest rates and a strengthening economy have driven housing prices and sales up in nearly all markets nationally.

“Rates haven’t been this low since the winter of 1995,” said economist John Tuccillo, a consultant to the National Assn. of Realtors. “But then we didn’t have the same factors--stronger consumer confidence, lower unemployment--that we do now.”

In Orange County, the median price for a single-family resale home was $237,400 during the quarter. The only other metropolitan areas with higher prices were Honolulu, at $300,000, and the San Francisco Bay region, at $304,600, the national Realtors’ group said.

In Southern California, the market has been particularly strong for expensive and medium-priced homes--the “trade-up” segment of the market that dominates much of Orange County.

A slight midwinter chill set in for prices, which fell about 1% in Los Angeles and Orange counties from the December medians. But a December-to-January decline in prices and sales is typical, reflecting the fact that fewer homes go into escrow during the holiday season.

Home prices in Los Angeles County peaked in May 1991 at $203,000. In Orange County they topped out at $223,000 in June 1991. In Orange County, they now have returned to their level in summer 1992, while Los Angeles is at mid-1994 levels.

Unlike more expensive homes, lower-end housing has yet to show an increase in prices, although more entry-level homes are selling than a few years ago, said Jim Hamilton, who heads the Remax Execs office in Redondo Beach.

That split in the market is especially apparent at the top end, where high-income workers have been the greatest beneficiaries of the economic recovery.

Joe Babajian, a Westside Los Angeles real estate agent, said a price surge similar to those in the late 1970s and again in the late 1980s took hold swiftly last year.

One estate that had gone unsold for years drew an offer of $15 million two years ago, but the bidder shied away when the owners countered with $18 million, he said.

It sold for more than $20 million recently, Babajian said. “It’s interesting how almost overnight everyone’s perceptions changed.”

James E. Willard, an Irvine-based real estate appraiser, said the South Orange County market is so hot that “comps”--recent sales prices of comparable homes--are lower than current sales prices.

A home in Dana Point’s Monarch Beach section that sold for $340,000 a year ago recently drew multiple offers and sold at the asking price of $450,000, Willard said.

And he said that when the owner of a Rancho Santa Margarita home was suddenly relocated for work, the house sold for $335,000--$65,000 above what the occupants had paid just last July.

“If you look at it from the comps, you can’t justify it,” Willard said.

Indeed, in a recent study, the E&Y; Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group said home prices in upper-bracket neighborhoods in South Orange County surged by 15% to 20% from June to September of last year alone.

“There is a direct correlation between the phenomenal sales activity occurring in the luxury home categories and the influx of highly skilled, highly paid knowledge workers into technology hubs,” said Michael Meyer, managing director of Leventhal’s Orange County office.

Many of these workers at the Irvine Spectrum and other high-tech areas “have high expectations of where they live and what they live in, and they have the money to buy homes in the $500,000 to $600,000 price brackets,” Meyer said.

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Orange County Home Sales

January home sales in Orange County rocketed 18.3% to 2,711, the highest for that month since 1989. The median price countywide reached $212,000 up 14.6% from January 1997 (main story D12). Sales of new and resale homes and condominiums by ZIP Code:

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January Pct. January Pct. High Entering Community Zip Sales Chng. Median Chng. Price Aliso Vie 92656 71 12.7% $195,000 4.3% $342,000 Anaheim 92801 24 -14.3% $150,250 3.8% $227,000 Anaheim 92802 19 58.3% $157,000 2.4% $1,280,000 Anaheim 92804 37 -22.9% $146,000 -1.7% $225,000 Anaheim 92805 33 37.5% $145,000 5.5% $210,000 Anaheim 92806 16 -5.9% $171,000 27.4% $610,000 Anaheim 92807 45 9.8% $217,000 8.5% $730,000 Anaheim 92808 39 85.7% $238,000 13.3% $537,500 Brea 92821 36 50.0% $210,000 5.8% $375,000 Buena Prk 90620 31 -13.9% $165,000 5.8% $285,000 Buena Prk 90621 20 -9.1% $165,000 31.5% $425,000 Corona Mar 92625 25 19.0% $622,000 24.4% $4,200,000 Costa Mesa 92626 31 -29.5% $209,500 2.8% $354,000 Costa Mesa 92627 34 41.7% $212,000 25.8% $349,000 Cypress 90630 40 0.0% $191,000 9.1% $455,000 Dana Pt 92624 8 0.0% $216,000 -0.8% $375,000 Dana Pt 92629 62 63.2% $289,000 10.3% $780,000 Foothl Rch 92610 19 -20.8% $235,000 13.7% $360,000 Fount Val 92708 50 13.6% $241,000 14.8% $360,000 Fullerton 92831 20 66.7% $231,000 -10.1% $609,000 Fullerton 92832 21 250.0% $139,000 -4.1% $310,000 Fullerton 92833 35 2.9% $159,500 0.8% $495,000 Fullerton 92835 17 -19.0% $215,000 0.5% $950,000 Garden Gr 92840 27 -15.6% $153,500 -1.0% $220,000 Garden Gr 92841 17 6.3% $172,500 11.1% $295,000 Garden Gr 92843 24 -11.1% $130,000 -9.4% $185,000 Garden Gr 92844 15 -16.7% $118,000 -10.3% $185,000 Garden Gr 92845 13 -7.1% $180,000 -3.2% $230,000 Hunt Bch 92646 35 -16.7% $192,000 -1.0% $634,000 Hunt Bch 92647 30 3.4% $226,000 17.9% $439,500 Hunt Bch 92648 67 81.1% $300,000 23.2% $942,000 Hunt Bch 92649 30 42.9% $213,500 -8.2% $845,000 Irvine 92604 38 81.0% $208,000 -3.3% $455,000 Irvine 92606 34 277.8% $229,000 -8.4% $423,500 Irvine 92612 29 20.8% $279,000 3.2% $710,000 Irvine 92614 28 55.6% $230,000 53.3% $447,000 Irvine 92620 50 127.3% $306,250 91.1% $460,000 La Habra 90631 37 5.7% $138,500 6.5% $360,000 La Palma 90623 7 -36.4% $185,000 -9.8% $260,000 Laguna Beach 92651 36 5.9% $492,500 32.4% $3,225,000 Lag Hills 92653 57 3.6% $145,000 2.5% $1,000,000 Lag Niguel 92677 127 16.5% $270,000 10.2% $755,000 Lke Forest 92630 71 36.5% $214,250 31.4% $382,000 Los Al 90720 11 -38.9% $273,000 1.1% $420,000 Missn Viej 92691 61 38.6% $218,000 16.6% $369,500 Missn Viej 92692 89 34.8% $241,000 12.1% $793,000 Newprt Bch 92657 18 38.5% $404,750 -11.0% $891,500 Newprt Bch 92660 49 48.5% $518,000 16.9% $1,550,000 Newprt Bch 92661 8 100.0% $850,000 68.3% $2,900,000 Newprt Bch 92663 17 -22.7% $344,000 52.9% $1,200,000 Orange 92865 16 45.5% $162,000 -0.1% $249,000 Orange 92866 10 25.0% $158,500 -19.3% $230,000 Orange 92867 38 15.2% $227,000 14.9% $795,000 Orange 92868 19 26.7% $138,000 3.8% $328,500 Orange 92869 30 -30.2% $178,000 -17.2% $915,000 Placentia 92870 41 28.1% $194,000 5.1% $321,500 R. S. Marg 92688 127 69.3% $181,000 10.4% $450,000 S. J. Cap 92675 55 44.7% $255,000 1.0% $1,895,000 San Clemen 92672 55 27.9% $280,000 5.3% $755,000 San Clemen 92673 23 4.5% $345,000 29.5% $680,000 Santa Ana 92701 21 -32.3% $118,000 25.5% $175,000 Santa Ana 92703 31 0.0% $118,000 -1.8% $174,000 Santa Ana 92704 25 -45.7% $144,500 4.3% $272,000 Santa Ana* 92705 35 52.2% $265,000 -15.9% $1,125,000 Santa Ana 92706 16 -30.4% $156,500 -4.0% $440,000 Santa Ana 92707 36 24.1% $152,000 32.2% $430,000 Seal Bch 90740 15 36.4% $261,000 -22.1% $370,000 Stanton 90680 20 33.3% $112,000 0.0% $161,500 Trab/Cot 92679 69 21.1% $282,000 -5.7% $710,000 Tustin 92780 32 -3.0% $176,000 4.8% $345,000 Tustin 92782 38 153.3% $258,000 8.4% $564,000 Villa Pk 92861 6 0.0% $412,000 -15.9% $925,000 Westmin 92683 57 42.5% $177,000 9.3% $293,000 Others 58 Countywide 2,711 18.3% $212,000 14.6% $4,200,000

Homes Community Foreclsr Aliso Vie 15 Anaheim 7 Anaheim 3 Anaheim 20 Anaheim 14 Anaheim 11 Anaheim 16 Anaheim 6 Brea 7 Buena Prk 13 Buena Prk 6 Corona Mar 2 Costa Mesa 3 Costa Mesa 6 Cypress 22 Dana Pt 3 Dana Pt 3 Foothl Rch 3 Fount Val 11 Fullerton 7 Fullerton 2 Fullerton 14 Fullerton 1 Garden Gr 18 Garden Gr 9 Garden Gr 11 Garden Gr 10 Garden Gr 3 Hunt Bch 19 Hunt Bch 10 Hunt Bch 3 Hunt Bch 5 Irvine 2 Irvine 1 Irvine 2 Irvine 2 Irvine 3 La Habra 19 La Palma 9 Laguna Beach 6 Lag Hills 18 Lag Niguel 19 Lke Forest 14 Los Al 2 Missn Viej 6 Missn Viej 18 Newprt Bch 0 Newprt Bch 13 Newprt Bch 0 Newprt Bch 3 Orange 6 Orange 2 Orange 10 Orange 5 Orange 9 Placentia 13 R. S. Marg 28 S. J. Cap 7 San Clemen 2 San Clemen 0 Santa Ana 9 Santa Ana 18 Santa Ana 28 Santa Ana* 14 Santa Ana 13 Santa Ana 20 Seal Bch 0 Stanton 18 Trab/Cot 10 Tustin 10 Tustin 5 Villa Pk 0 Westmin 15 Others 7 Countywide 695

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*Includes Lemon/Cowan Heights

Sales, Price Trends

Monthly Sales Jan ‘98: 2,711

Median Price Jan ‘98: $212,000

January Sales: 2,711

January Median Prices: $212,000

Source: Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times