Condo Prices, Sales Surge in Orange County
Unfazed by El Nino’s torrents, Southern California’s relentless home buyers are snapping up more condominiums and other less-expensive homes, real estate analysts said Thursday.
With home prices surging throughout the Southland, the condominium market has emerged from a lengthy slump, reflecting increased interest in home buying among people at all income levels, analysts said.
The trend is most pronounced in Orange County, where condo sales ratcheted up more than 26% last month and prices climbed 16%, outpacing the increase in the local
market overall, according to Acxiom/DataQuick Information Services, which tracks real estate transactions.
Analysts say heavy demand for high-end homes helped spur the housing market’s recovery last year. Now, the hot market is starting to put detached homes out of reach of some buyers just as interest in home purchases intensifies.
Indeed, prices in all segments of the housing market are moving up equally fast, DataQuick analyst John Karevoll said. Six months ago, prices of expensive Southern California homes were rising twice as fast as those at the market’s lower end.
In Corona del Mar, where demand for condominiums has been sluggish for years, the market is “almost on fire,” said real estate agent Lynn Noah of Coast Newport Properties. “I can’t hold a listing for a week.”
Condo buyers in that upscale section of Newport Beach are paying $300,000 to $500,000 because they can no longer find detached homes in that price range, Noah said.
But brisk condo sales were reported throughout the county, boosting the median price for a condo to $137,750 from $119,000 a year ago. During the same period, overall home prices climbed 13.4% to $211,000 from $186,000.
At one Huntington Harbour complex, two-bedroom units that peaked at more than $155,000 in the early 1990s had fallen to $99,000 before starting back up again recently, said Ann Miller, a resident who put her unit up for sale in November.
It sold for $112,900 the last week in February, when the market suddenly heated up and every unit for sale at her complex attracted interest from buyers.
“There were four of them for sale, counting mine, and they all got offers the same week,” Miller said.
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In the foothill community of Portola Hills, two condominiums that sold six months ago for less than $100,000 have been sold again in the last month for almost $120,000, said Mary Shockey, manager of Century 21 Beachside in Laguna Niguel.
Ken Agid of the Marketing Department in Irvine, a consultant to the high-density housing complexes that are part of Los Angeles’ budding Playa Vista development, said attached homes, such as condos, will play an increasing role in the region’s housing, particularly as the pent-up demand for expensive “trade-ups” plays out.
“We’re coming to an era of limits in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California,” Agid said. “And we’re going to have to start thinking outside the envelope if we want to supply housing for people making $40,000 or $50,000 or $60,000.”
For now, though, the onslaught of expensive purchases by affluent baby boomers also continues, even as the lower-end markets improve.
Builders say heavy demand for high-end homes is far outpacing supply, a problem worsened by construction delays this rainy winter.
When California Pacific Homes opened models priced at $500,000 and up in a Newport Beach tract, a dozen prospective buyers camped out overnight and hundreds were lined up by 10 a.m., clutching cellular phones and Starbucks coffees, said Cary Bren, president of the building company. By noon, police were preventing cars from driving into the project.
The scene was similar up the coast in Santa Monica. “If a buyer hesitates for a moment on a property, they’re going to lose it,” said Rick Mitchell, an agent with John Aaroe & Associates in Brentwood.
Mitchell said he has more buyers as clients now than at any time in the past 20 years. Most still prefer detached homes, but demand for condos is strong among single people and professional couples without children.
“No one cares what’s going on in Asia, or what’s happening to Clinton,” Mitchell said. “Things are great here now, and that’s what’s important to buyers.”
In Los Angeles County, condo sales and prices still were moving up more slowly than the overall market, DataQuick reported.
The median price for all homes sold in the county rose 6.1% to $173,000, while sales climbed 18.3%. Condo prices throughout the county rose 4.9% to a median $150,000, while sales were up nearly 13% from condo transactions a year ago.
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Condo Comeback
Median prices for Orange County condominiums surged to $138,000 in February, 16% higher than the same month last year. Condo sales rose 28% to 1,829 units, the highest for a February in eight years. February trends:
Median price ‘98: $138,000
Sales ‘98: 1,829
Source: DataQuick; Researched by JANICE L. JONES/Los Angeles Times
Orange County Home Sales
Home sales surged to 2,940 in February, up 26.8% from a year ago. The median price jumped 13.4% to $211,000, compared to $186,000 a year ago. (Main story, A1.) Sales of new and resale homes and condominiums by ZIP Code:
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Homes High Entering Community Zip Price Foreclosure Aliso Viejo 92656 $427,500 10 Anaheim 92801 $217,000 14 Anaheim 92802 $257,500 14 Anaheim 92804 $227,000 19 Anaheim 92805 $209,500 13 Anaheim 92806 $232,000 4 Anaheim 92807 $460,000 10 Anaheim 92808 $840,000 4 Brea 92821 $336,000 10 Buena Park 90620 $190,000 11 Buena Park 90621 $260,000 9 Corona del Mar 92625 $950,000 1 Costa Mesa 92626 $455,000 6 Costa Mesa 92627 $410,000 11 Cypress 90630 $450,000 16 Dana Point 92624 $1,200,000 n/a Dana Point 92629 $2,300,000 4 Foothill Ranch 92610 $521,000 4 Fountain Valley 92708 $429,000 8 Fullerton 92831 $654,000 5 Fullerton 92832 $225,000 1 Fullerton 92833 $595,000 10 Fullerton 92835 $541,000 1 Garden Grove 92840 $239,000 24 Garden Grove 92841 $310,000 9 Garden Grove 92843 $180,000 11 Garden Grove 92844 $245,000 3 Garden Grove 92845 $255,000 5 Huntington Beach 92646 $585,000 21 Huntington Beach 92647 $427,500 8 Huntington Beach 92648 $957,000 10 Huntington Beach 92649 $1,350,000 11 Irvine 92604 $390,000 4 Irvine 92606 $462,000 1 Irvine 92612 $670,000 3 Irvine 92614 $560,000 1 Irvine 92620 $636,000 8 La Habra 90631$315,000 15 La Palma 90623 $420,000 6 Laguna Beach 92651 $1,595,000 5 Laguna Hills 92653 $750,000 14 Laguna Niguel 92677 $2,350,000 16 Lake Forest 92630 $1,020,000 26 Los Alamitos 90720 $560,000 1 Mission Viejo 92691 $390,000 13 Mission Viejo 92692 $1,125,000 8 Newport Beach 92657 $4,010,000 0 Newport Beach 92660 $2,050,000 5 Newport Beach 92661 $440,000 0 Newport Beach 92663 $2,825,000 6 Orange 92865 $254,500 6 Orange 92866 $325,000 3 Orange 92867 $630,000 6 Orange 92868 $180,000 4 Orange 92869 $580,000 9 Placentia 92870 $356,000 8 R. Santa Margarita 92688 $462,000 21 S. Juan Capistrano 92675 $1,050,000 11 San Clemente 92672 $750,000 5 San Clemente 92673 $581,000 0 Santa Ana 92701 $180,000 13 Santa Ana 92703 $160,000 19 Santa Ana 92704 $203,000 24 Santa Ana* 92705 $938,000 13 Santa Ana 92706 $435,000 8 Santa Ana 92707 $305,000 16 Seal Beach 90740 $640,000 0 Stanton 90680 $150,000 10 Trabuco/Coto 92679 $935,000 8 Tustin 92780 $380,000 11 Tustin 92782 $426,500 5 Villa Park 92861 $840,000 0 Westminster 92683 $268,000 20 Yorba Linda 92886 $580,000 13 Yorba Linda 92887 $647,000 1 Others 41 Countywide $4,010,000 694
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*Includes Lemon/Cowan Heights
Source: Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times
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February Pct. February Pct. Community Zip Sales Chng. Median Chng. Aliso Viejo 92656 119 77.6% $192,000 13.3% Anaheim 92801 24 4.3% $134,750 -3.8% Anaheim 92802 17 13.3% $161,000 2.2% Anaheim 92804 33 -32.7% $156,000 -2.5% Anaheim 92805 29 7.4% $152,000 2.7% Anaheim 92806 15 36.4% $191,000 15.1% Anaheim 92807 43 48.3% $217,250 24.1% Anaheim 92808 58 56.8% $167,000 -23.6% Brea 92821 23 -8.0% $256,000 36.9% Buena Park 90620 23 -17.9% $166,000 3.8% Buena Park 90621 17 41.7% $157,500 22.1% Corona del Mar 92625 12 20.0% $501,591 1.3% Costa Mesa 92626 40 66.7% $190,750 -3.3% Costa Mesa 92627 30 36.4% $204,000 26.3% Cypress 90630 25 -34.2% $186,500 -5.8% Dana Point 92624 6 100.0% $228,500 1.1% Dana Point 92629 51 30.8% $270,000 24.7% Foothill Ranch 92610 20 -31.0% $231,500 11.6% Fountain Valley 92708 47 14.6% $220,000 8.9% Fullerton 92831 31 29.2% $269,000 43.5% Fullerton 92832 6 -60.0% $176,791 24.5% Fullerton 92833 28 3.7% $168,750 9.6% Fullerton 92835 28 180.0% $265,000 23.3% Garden Grove 92840 42 61.5% $151,500 2.7% Garden Grove 92841 23 283.3% $168,000 -7.6% Garden Grove 92843 17 21.4% $156,500 10.2% Garden Grove 92844 15 50.0% $160,500 16.3% Garden Grove 92845 15 25.0% $183,500 -3.7% Huntington Beach 92646 53 26.2% $215,000 -2.8% Huntington Beach 92647 46 48.4% $224,000 13.8% Huntington Beach 92648 71 57.8% $311,500 46.6% Huntington Beach 92649 51 75.9% $275,000 48.6% Irvine 92604 23 21.1% $239,000 17.2% Irvine 92606 43 104.8% $269,000 4.7% Irvine 92612 27 -6.9% $230,000 -20.8% Irvine 92614 42 90.9% $217,750 -6.9% Irvine 92620 45 95.7% $257,000 -14.3% La Habra 90631 43 19.4% $162,500 9.4% La Palma 90623 16 100.0% $212,500 2.7% Laguna Beach 92651 29 38.1% $465,000 31.0% Laguna Hills 92653 65 14.0% $153,250 -4.2% Laguna Niguel 92677 147 28.9% $259,500 17.6% Lake Forest 92630 74 64.4% $200,000 17.6% Los Alamitos 90720 10 -9.1% $295,000 11.3% Mission Viejo 92691 64 60.0% $209,000 6.6% Mission Viejo 92692 93 12.0% $245,500 14.2% Newport Beach 92657 19 280.0% $700,000 85.2% Newport Beach 92660 28 -26.3% $504,000 12.0% Newport Beach 92661 1 -66.7% $440,000 17.3% Newport Beach 92663 24 41.2% $352,500 22.0% Orange 92865 12 50.0% $172,000 2.2% Orange 92866 13 0.0% $185,000 -9.3% Orange 92867 42 68.0% $207,500 12.2% Orange 92868 8 60.0% $128,982 -24.1% Orange 92869 40 53.8% $212,500 5.6% Placentia 92870 42 -14.3% $212,250 3.5% R. Santa Margarita 92688 136 36.0% $197,750 16.3% S. Juan Capistrano 92675 45 25.0% $190,000 -3.7% San Clemente 92672 59 11.3% $237,000 2.7% San Clemente 92673 21 31.3% $395,000 68.1% Santa Ana 92701 28 40.0% $60,250 -29.3% Santa Ana 92703 16 -44.8% $111,000 16.8% Santa Ana 92704 54 20.0% $132,250 -3.8% Santa Ana* 92705 36 71.4% $256,500 -13.6% Santa Ana 92706 29 52.6% $177,000 12.7% Santa Ana 92707 38 15.2% $147,500 17.1% Seal Beach 90740 19 46.2% $341,250 51.0% Stanton 90680 11 -38.9% $134,000 35.7% Trabuco/Coto 92679 133 58.3% $277,000 14.5% Tustin 92780 41 41.4% $170,000 -4.5% Tustin 92782 40 21.2% $235,000 5.9% Villa Park 92861 3 0.0% $402,000 -5.7% Westminster 92683 50 8.7% $167,500 1.2% Yorba Linda 92886 41 36.7% $260,000 15.6% Yorba Linda 92887 32 60.0% $276,000 -24.1% Others - 100 - - - Countywide 2,940 26.8% $211,000 13.4%
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*Includes Lemon/Cowan Heights
Monthly Sales: 2,940
Median Price: $211,000
February Sales: 2,940
February Median Prices: $211,000
Source: Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times
