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Orange County home sales tumble 28% in 47 million-dollar neighborhoods

Orange County may have added nearly twice as many million-dollar ZIPs in a year, but sales fell 28% in those seven-figure neighborhoods during the past 12 months.

The pandemic’s homebuying binge has boosted the number of million-dollar Orange County neighborhoods to 47 — up 22 in a year and 32 over 24 months. The market of “affordable” communities dropped to eight, off 15 in 12 months and 36 since May 2020.

My trusty spreadsheet, filled with May homebuying stats from DQNews/CoreLogic for 83 Orange County ZIP codes, showed how home pricing has changed in the past two years, comparing so-called “expensive” ZIPs with a median selling price of $1 million and higher vs. “affordable” neighborhoods with medians of $750,000 or less.

Yes, I agree that $750,000 is a lot of money for a mid-priced home, but as recently as May 2020, that bought you a median-priced Orange County home. That same home-price benchmark is now $1,054,500.

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The buying pace is cooling as lofty pricing and sharply rising mortgage rates scare off many house hunters. May had 24% fewer sales at all price points compared with a year earlier, and the 47 seven-figure ZIP codes saw 28% fewer purchases. Meanwhile, sales in the “bargain” ZIPs below $750,000 were off 11% in the same period.

Let’s look at how the ranks of expensive and affordable communities have changed …

May: 47 seven-figure ZIPs with 1,524 sales —  52% of all purchases and 8 “affordable” ZIPs with 324 sales, or 11% of all purchases. The high-end included 9 ZIPs priced at $2 million or more.

April: 46 seven-figure ZIPs with 1,604 sales —  53% of all purchases and 8 “affordable” ZIPs with 224 sales, or 7% of all purchases. The high-end included 8 ZIPs priced at $2 million or more.

May 2021: 25 million-dollar ZIPs with 1,364 transactions —  35% of all purchases and 23 “bargain” ZIPs with 767 sales or a 22% slice. ($2 million or more? 7 ZIPs.)

May 2020: 15 ZIPs above $1 million with 213 closings — a 13% slice vs. 44 sub-$750,000 ZIPs with 758 purchases, or 46% of all sales. ($2 million or more? 6 ZIPs.)

Orange County now has 57% of its ZIP codes with seven-figure pricing vs. 18% in May 2020. It’s the result of the pandemic era’s feeding frenzy for ownership, historically low mortgage rates, few homes for sale and a thirst for larger living spaces — not to mention growing investor interest.

Those factors bumped the countywide median price to $1,054,500 for May, up 18% in one year. That’s a $159,300 gain or $13,300 a month. In the previous 12 months, prices rose 19% or a $145,000 or appreciation at a $12,100 monthly pace.

Let’s look at what ZIPs are in Orange County’s million-dollar club for May along with its cheaper neighborhoods. Note that monthly sales data for individual ZIP codes can be volatile, so price trends may reflect a different mix of homes sold and not changing values. (Data for all Orange County ZIPs can be found at bit.ly/maypricingoc.)

New to the club

ZIP codes in the latest million-dollar club that were not a member in May 2021 …

Brea 92823: $1.37 million — up 46%.

Yorba Linda 92887: $1.32 million — up 38%.

Irvine 92606: $1.29 million — up 41%.

La Palma 90623: $1.25 million — up 41%.

Laguna Niguel 92677: $1.25 million — up 28%.

Fullerton 92835: $1.2 million — up 51%.

Fountain Valley 92708: $1.17 million — up 30%.

Costa Mesa 92626: $1.17 million — up 22%.

Irvine 92614: $1.14 million — up 49%.

Tustin 92782: $1.13 million — up 27%.

Orange 92867: $1.13 million — up 22%.

Irvine 92604: $1.1 million — up 33%.

Lake Forest 92630: $1.1 million — up 29%.

Huntington Beach 92647: $1.08 million — up 20%.

Mission Viejo 92691: $1.08 million — up 20%.

Foothill Ranch 92610: $1.08 million — up 31%.

Costa Mesa 92627: $1.04 million — up 10%.

Anaheim 92808: $1.02 million — up 5%.

Anaheim 92807: $1.02 million — up 18%.

Garden Grove 92845: $1 million — up 17%.

Still members

Seven-figure ZIPs that were also May 2021 club members …

Corona del Mar 92625: $4.69 million — up 62%.

Newport Beach 92661: $4.55 million — up 76%.

Newport Coast 92657: $4.48 million — up 52%.

Newport Beach 92662: $3.75 million — unchanged in 12 months.

Laguna Beach 92651: $3.13 million — up 14%.

Newport Beach 92663: $3.1 million — up 66%.

Villa Park 92861: $2.48 million — up 56%.

Newport Beach 92660: $2.36 million — up 5%.

Irvine 92603: $2.25 million — up 35%.

Irvine 92602: $1.8 million — up 22%.

Dana Point 92624: $1.8 million — up 3%.

San Clemente 92673: $1.71 million — up 35%.

Los Alamitos 90720: $1.56 million — up 42%.

Dana Point 92629: $1.53 million — up 17%.

Santa Ana 92705: $1.52 million — up 24%.

Irvine 92620: $1.5 million — up 16%.

San Clemente 92672: $1.5 million — up 22%.

Huntington Beach 92648: $1.44 million — up 35%.

Trabuco/Coto 92679: $1.43 million — up 13%.

Irvine 92618: $1.34 million — up 25%.

Ladera Ranch 92694: $1.34 million — up 34%.

Seal Beach 90740: $1.29 million — off 10%.

Yorba Linda 92886: $1.17 million — up 4%.

Huntington Beach 92649: $1.08 million — up 8%.

O.C. ‘bargains’

And Orange County’s sub-$750,000 ZIPs in May 2021 …

Santa Ana 92701: $733,750 —  up 119%.

La Habra 90631: $722,750 —  up 11%.

Santa Ana 92703: $715,500 —  up 19%.

Santa Ana 92704: $715,000 —  up 34%.

Stanton 90680: $663,000 —  up 17%.

Orange 92868: $660,000 —  off 8%.

Santa Ana 92707: $587,500 —  up 3%.

Laguna Woods 92637: $453,500 —  up 13%.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com


Source: Orange County Register

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