Orange County housing adds 9 million-dollar ZIPs, loses 14 ‘bargain’ neighborhoods

Let me put the absurd pricing of Orange County housing into simple terms: Nearly one-third of local neighborhoods have a median selling price of $1 million or more — twice the share of two years ago.

My trusty spreadsheet, filled with homebuying stats from DQNews/CoreLogic, found the number of million-dollar ZIP codes grew by nine to 26 in the year ending in June — that’s 31% of the 83 neighborhoods tracked. The pandemic era’s buying binge also wiped out 14 “affordable” ZIP codes in the past year, leaving only nine neighborhoods with a median sales price under $666,667.

Yes, that “affordable” diving line is still a lot of money. But look back to June 2019, when there were just 13 million-dollars ZIPs and 33 “bargains” under $666,667.

The recent feeding frenzy has made seven-figure communities a vastly larger slice of overall homebuying. Orange County’s total closed sales of all residences — existing and new, single-family houses and condos — were 4,146 countywide last month — up 67% from a coronavirus-iced economy of June 2020.

Local million-dollar ZIPs had 1,326 purchases in June, equaling 32% of all homes sold countywide. In June 2020, 481 residences were sold in ZIPs with $1 million-plus medians, or just 19% of transactions.

Why the growth? A homebuying feeding frenzy created by cheap loans, few homes for sale and a thirst for larger living spaces. Look at the countywide median price for the month of $900,000 — up 18% in a year. That’s a $135,000 gain in 12 months.

And the price craziness is widespread: 61 of Orange County’s 83 neighborhoods had one-year price gains above $100,000. Overall, prices rose in 79 of 83 ZIPs.

At the other end of the pricing spectrum, Orange County’s “bargain” communities — priced below two-thirds of a million bucks — are a shrinking group.

June’s sales in these “affordable” ZIPs totaled 351 — making “bargains” 8.5% of all purchases. In June of last year, 539 purchases were in “bargain” ZIPs — or 21.7% of all sales.

By the way, in May there were 25 million-dollar ZIPs (one less than June) and nine affordable communities (same as June).

So what communities have joined the million-dollar club in the past year?

Irvine 92603: $1.6 million median price, up 64% in a year.

Trabuco/Coto 92679: $1.28 million — up 30%.

Los Alamitos 90720: $1.21 million — up 38%.

Costa Mesa 92627: $1.21 million — up 47%.

Irvine 92620: $1.17 million — up 23%.

Ladera Ranch 92694: $1.02 million — up 21%.

Huntington Beach 92649: $1.01 million — up 19%.

Costa Mesa 92626: $1.01 million — up 22%.

Huntington Beach 92646: $1 million — up 16%.

The other seven-figure ZIPs for June …

Newport Coast 92657: $4.58 million — up 91%.

Newport Beach 92662: $3.58 million — up 43%.

Corona del Mar 92625: $3.25 million — up 24%.

Newport Beach 92661: $2.8 million — up 17%.

Newport Beach 92663: $2.49 million — up 109%.

Laguna Beach 92651: $2.45 million — up 28%.

Newport Beach 92660: $2.35 million — up 38%.

Villa Park 92861: $1.54 million — off 15%.

Irvine 92602: $1.49 million — up 14%.

San Juan Capistrano 92675: $1.43 million — up 40%.

Dana Point 92629: $1.4 million — up 29%.

San Clemente 92673: $1.35 million — up 29%.

Huntington Beach 92648: $1.32 million — up 26%.

Santa Ana 92705: $1.28 million — up 18%.

San Clemente 92672: $1.24 million — up 24%.

Seal Beach 90740: $1.19 million — up 11%.

Dana Point 92624: $1.15 million — off 53%.

And Orange County’s sub-$666,667 “bargains” in June …

Anaheim 92805: $660,000 — up 13%.

Garden Grove 92840: $629,500 — off 8%.

Santa Ana 92703: $625,000 — up 9%.

Santa Ana 92704: $612,500 — up 11%.

Stanton 90680: $594,000 — up 13%.

Garden Grove 92844: $587,500 — up 38%.

Santa Ana 92707: $552,500 — up 11%.

Laguna Woods 92637: $462,500 — up 44%.

Santa Ana 92701: $372,500 — up 21%.

PS: Monthly sales data for individual ZIPs can be volatile, so price data may reflect a different mix of homes that sold — not changing values. Data for all Orange County ZIPs can be found at bit.ly/juneoc

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

Source: Orange County Register