The priciest oceanfront homesite sale in OC is this Ritz Cove lot

A front-row oceanview homesite in Dana Point that sat vacant for decades has sold for $14.25 million.

According to the Multiple Listing Service, the sale price makes it the most expensive in Orange County for an oceanfront residential plot of land.

The quarter-acre lot boasts unobstructed ocean and whitewater views from its vantage point in guard-gated Ritz Cove. There are no public access walkways to Salt Creek Beach from the community, but gates offer residents beach entry.

Residents can walk down a short set of stairs to where one gate opens onto the beach trail just steps from the sand. They can also reach it through a gate at the community’s guarded entrance.

“It’s rare to find an undeveloped lot on the oceanfront here in Orange County, let alone one that is ready to build within an exclusive enclave of the coast,” said Jacqueline Thompson of Surterre Properties, the listing agent.

Mark Nix, also of Surterre Properties, represented the buyer who paid all-cash.

The March 15 transaction comes after several years on and off the market, with an ask as high as $16.8 million. It was recently listed for $15 million or 5% above the closing price.

“The owners were not in a rush to sell,” said Thompson, whose O.C. clients have owned the lot since 1988, property records show. “They have had other offers close to the current sold price, but they sold when they were ready.”

Thompason adds that the now record-breaking sale is likely to set the tone for vacant residential land going forward.