Written by Jonathan Lansner – jlansner@scng.com
The pandemic’s homebuying binge has boosted the number of million-dollar Orange County neighborhoods by 20 in a year — and 32 over 24 months — as the market lost 17 “affordable” communities in 12 months and 35 since April 2020.
My trusty spreadsheet, filled with April homebuying stats from DQNews/CoreLogic for 83 Orange County ZIP codes, showed how home pricing has changed in the past two years. Expensive ZIPs had a median sales price of $1 million and higher and affordable neighborhoods had medians of $750,000 or below.
Yes, I agree that $750,000 is a lot of money. But as recently as May 2020, $750,000 bought you a median-priced Orange County home. Now that median stands at $1.05 million.
Let’s look at how the ranks of expensive and affordable communities have changed …
April: 46 seven-figure ZIPs with 1,604 sales — 53% of all purchases and 8 affordable ZIPs with 184 sales, or 6% of all purchases. The high-end included 8 ZIPs priced at $2 million or more.
March: 45 seven-figure ZIPs with 1,688 sales — 53% of all purchases and 10 affordable ZIPs with 282 sales, or 9% of all purchases. The high-end included 7 ZIPs priced at $2 million or more. And, between the top and the bottom were 21 neighborhoods.
April 2021: 26 million-dollar ZIPs with 1,613 transactions — 39% of all purchases and 25 bargain ZIPs with 935 sales, or a 22% slice. ($2 million or more: 9 ZIPs.)
April 2020: 14 seven-figure ZIPs with 365 closings — a 13% slice vs. 43 sub-$750,000 ZIPs with 1,300 purchases, or 46% of all sales. ($2 million or more: 5 ZIPs.)
Why did this happen?
A feeding frenzy was created by cheap loans, few homes for sale, plus a thirst for larger living spaces and growing investor interest. And this all happened while the economy recovered from a pandemic chill.
Those factors bumped the countywide median price to $1.05 million for April — up 21% in one year (that’s a $179,353 gain or $14,946 a month). In the previous 12 months, prices rose 15% (that’s $115,700 or appreciation at a $9,642 monthly pace).
Let’s look at which ZIPs are in Orange County’s million-dollar club for April while also looking at the cheapest neighborhoods.
Note that monthly sales data for individual ZIP codes can be volatile, so price trends may reflect a different mix of homes sold — not changing values. (Data for all Orange County ZIPs can be found at bit.ly/aprilpricingoc .)
New to the club
These ZIP codes in the latest million-dollar club were not a member back in April 2021 …
Brea 92823: $1.42 million — up 90%.
Costa Mesa 92627: $1.29 million — up 37%.
Foothill Ranch 92610: $1.28 million — up 68%.
Tustin 92782: $1.28 million — up 48%.
Huntington Beach 92646: $1.25 million — up 44%.
Costa Mesa 92626: $1.25 million — up 33%.
Ladera Ranch 92694: $1.2 million — up 36%.
Irvine 92604: $1.17 million — up 30%.
Orange 92867: $1.16 million — up 28%.
Huntington Beach 92647: $1.15 million — up 37%.
Irvine 92606: $1.14 million — up 20%.
Brea 92821: $1.06 million — up 34%.
Lake Forest 92630: $1.06 million — up 21%.
Irvine 92614: $1.06 million — up 33%.
Fountain Valley 92708: $1.05 million — up 15%.
Laguna Hills 92653: $1.04 million — up 6%.
Orange 92869: $1.04 million — up 14%.
Mission Viejo 92691: $1.02 million — up 23%.
Fullerton 92835: $1.01 million — up 26%.
Anaheim 92808: $1.01 million — up 6%.
Still members
Seven-figure ZIP codes that were club members back in April 2021 …
Newport Beach 92661: $4.55 million — up 32%.
Newport Beach 92662: $4.43 million — unchanged in 12 months.
Corona del Mar 92625: $3.81 million — up 42%.
Newport Coast 92657: $3.8 million — up 15%.
Irvine 92603: $2.85 million — up 20%.
Laguna Beach 92651: $2.75 million — up 18%.
Newport Beach 92660: $2.68 million — up 20%.
Villa Park 92861: $2.18 million — up 25%.
Dana Point 92624: $1.83 million — up 12%.
Irvine 92602: $1.82 million — up 24%.
San Clemente 92672: $1.8 million — up 61%.
Newport Beach 92663: $1.64 million — off 2%.
Trabuco/Coto 92679: $1.63 million — up 39%.
San Juan Capistrano 92675: $1.59 million — up 35%.
Irvine 92620: $1.53 million — up 49%.
San Clemente 92673: $1.52 million — up 28%.
Santa Ana 92705: $1.51 million — up 26%.
Yorba Linda 92887: $1.48 million — up 39%.
Los Alamitos 90720: $1.42 million — up 18%.
Dana Point 92629: $1.4 million — up 14%.
Irvine 92618: $1.39 million — up 30%.
Huntington Beach 92648: $1.34 million — up 3%.
Seal Beach 90740: $1.3 million — off 7%.
Laguna Niguel 92677: $1.2 million — up 10%.
Yorba Linda 92886: $1.2 million — up 20%.
Huntington Beach 92649: $1.1 million — off 6%
O.C. ‘bargains’
Orange County’s sub-$750,000 ZIP codes in 2021 …
Garden Grove 92843: $725,000 — up 10%.
Santa Ana 92703: $705,000 — up 12%.
Santa Ana 92704: $700,000 — up 27%.
Santa Ana 92707: $670,000 — up 17%.
Santa Ana 92701: $625,000 — up 97%.
Orange 92868: $620,000 — off 15%.
Stanton 90680: $592,500 — up 1%.
Laguna Woods 92637: $456,250 — up 9%.
Source: OC Register
