July 26, 2008

Reality Check: Irvine Condo and Detached Home Stats, July 2008

Note: The Altos graphs and numbers, which are for detached homes, provide a good overview of market trends in each city. However, condos also play a big role in the Orange County housing market; therefore, taking a look at the condo numbers in combination with the detached home numbers is also helpful. That is what we will do with the following housing numbers.

I also like these numbers for another reason: Comparing the average listing price to the average sales price reveals if sellers are being realistic with their asking price. In other words, it provides a reality check for homesellers and homebuyers.

For comparison, I included the numbers from five years ago (2003). Predictions vary, but some think that Orange County housing prices will eventually return to these levels.



According to these numbers, Irvine real estate is still in a holding pattern. The average sales price went down, and the median sales price also went down slightly; however, the price per square foot went up slightly. This is what these numbers have told us for some months now: the Irvine condo-plus-detached home market is in a holding pattern. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at Irvine’s detached home stats to see if they verify what these condo-plus-detach home stats are telling us. Preview: a somewhat different story.

Now for our reality check: Note that the number of sales is down from where it was at this time last year. In addition, the number of sales is at only about half of where it was five years ago. However, more Irvine homes sold in this period that the previous period, which is not a surprise for this time of year. Maybe this and the fact that prices in Irvine have not declined significantly for some months is what encouraged homeowners to once again increase their asking prices: This month the increase in asking price was about $40,000 more than was asked in the previous period, last month it was about $10,000 more, the month before that it was approximately $55,000 more. Also note that the current average listing price is nearly double the average sales price.

Here are the Irvine condo+detached housing numbers for 2008.

• Average Listing Price for:
  • Week Ending July 20: $1,209,973
  • Week Ending June 11: $1,066,271
  • Week Ending May 14: $1,055,460
  • Week Ending April 16: $999,976
  • Week Ending March 12: $1,023,403
  • Week Ending February 6: $971,094

• Average Sales Price for:
  • Apr-Jun 2008: $676,963
  • Mar-May 2008: $692,562
  • Feb-April 2008: $704,150
  • Jan-March 2008: $699,798
  • Dec 2007-Feb 2008: $743,982
  • Nov 2007-Jan 2008: $797,749
  • One year ago (Apr-Jun 2007): $795,443
  • Five years ago (Apr-Jun 2003): $491,703

• Median Sales Price for:
  • Apr-Jun 2008: $580,000
  • Mar-May 2008: $585,000
  • Feb-April 2008: $578,000
  • Jan-March 2008: $579,000
  • Dec 2007-Feb 2008: $619,000
  • Nov 2007-Jan 2008: $650,000
  • One year ago (Apr-Jun 2007): $667,500
  • Five years ago (Apr-Jun 2003): $453,000

• Average Price/SF for:
  • Apr-Jun 2008: $360
  • Mar-May 2008: $356
  • Feb-April 2008: $356
  • Jan-March 2008: $359
  • Dec 2007-Feb 2008: $365
  • Nov 2007-Jan 2008: $369
  • One year ago (Apr-Jun 2007): $408
  • Five years ago (Apr-Jun 2003): $276

• Number of sales:
  • Apr-Jun 2008: 553
  • Mar-May 2008: 536
  • Feb-April 2008: 485
  • Jan-March 2008: 442
  • Dec 2007-Feb 2008: 398
  • Oct-Dec 2007: 421
  • One year ago (Apr-Jun 2007): 677
  • Five years ago (Apr-Jun 2003): 1,119

Source: Trulia

For more information on the Irvine housing numbers, see tomorrow’s post “The Irvine Market Report: Detached Home Stats, July 2008.”

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