Real Estate Breakdown

The Costa Mesa real estate market, which is heavily dependent on the larger and inclusive Orange County real estate market, faced some moderately bad news in a report released by ForeclosureRadar.com, which indicated that the number of foreclosures in the region increased slightly from December of 2009 to January of 2010. This trend was reported in a February 16, 2010 article in the OC Metro, which stated that “In addition, 523 properties were returned to banks, up 86 from December but down 193 from January 2009. And 303 homes were sold to a third party, up 81 from December and 183 from the same time last year, according to the report.” The founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com, Sean O’Toole, also said that “With delinquent payments rising, foreclosures slowing and foreclosure alternatives failing, it appears the foreclosure crisis will be with us for many years to come.”

A related indicator for Costa Mesa homes for sale, the number of short sales, spiked much more sharply in January of 2010. According to a March 1, 2010 article in the Orange County Register, “Orange County home sales for less than a residence’s total debt increased 33.8% in January from the year before, Southern California Multiple Listing Service figures show.” The piece, written by Jeff Collins, continued to note that “The listing service reported that 487 of January’s deals were ‘short sales’ – or sales in which the purchase price is less than mortgage balance. That’s nearly 28% of all Orange County resales traded through the MLS.”

One positive note for Costa Mesa real estate was reported by Kristen Schott of the OC Metro, who wrote that “Orange County’s median home price rose 13.6 percent in January, compared to the same time last year, according to stats released by the California Association of Realtors. The region’s home price hit $480,790 in the period, up from $423,100 in January 2009.” The February 23, 2010 piece continued to state that “But the median price fell 3.1 percent from December, when the number was $496,070. The pattern was also reflected statewide, according to C.A.R., which measures its statistics from MLS Information. California’s median home price increased 15 percent to $287,440 in January.”