House Estate World

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Irvine Housing Blog

Posted: 28 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Here is an updated list of the housing numbers for each Irvine neighborhood. Does anyone care to give an opinion on what these numbers mean?

Area

List Price/# of Homes Listed

Sold Price/# Homes Sold

List Per SF

Sold Per SF

% Chg M-O-M Sold Price/SF

% Chg Y-O-Y Sold Price/SF

Airport/IBC

February 2012

$392K/48

$330K/15

$337

$288

-4.30%

-11.70%

January 2012

$374K/52

$327K/18

$332

$317

15.90%

-17%

Columbus Grove

n/a

El Camino

February 2012

$467K/26

$340K/5

$339

$281

5.20%

-6.60%

January 2012

$462K/28

$389K/6

$322

$267

-10.10%

-28.40%

Northpark

February 2012

$459K/74

$415K/13

$301

$280

1.10%

-9.40%

January 2012

$465K/91

$412K/19

$290

$277

-3.10%

-20.90%

Northwood

February 2012

$504K/66

$292K/13

$300

$287

-1.70%

-7.10%

January 2012

$489K/78

$518K/17

$286

$292

3.90%

-7.60%

Oak Creek

February 2012

$487K/26

$267K/13

$317

$267

3.80%

-15.8

January 2012

$350K/33

$249K/9

$308

$261

-8.10%

-20.40%

Orange Tree

February 2012

$242K/6

$200K/6

$249

$230

-7.60%

-33.50%

January 2012

$216K/12

$205K/5

$252

$249

-4.20%

-13.50%

Portola Springs

February 2012

$641K/31

$510K/1

$317

$249

-15%

-12%

January 2012

$623K/43

$570K/7

$321

$293

16.70%

1.40%

Quail Hill

February 2012

$515K/21

$470k/6

$364

$307

-5.80%

-10.80%

January 2012

$560K/20

$512K/8

$324

$326

-5%

-13.30%

Rancho San Joaquin

February 2012

$492K/6

$360K/1

$297

$336

49.30%

n/a

January 2012

n/a

Shady Canyon

February 2012

$5,995K/23

$3,200K/3

$725

$603

12.90%

7.50%

January 2012

$5,980K/23

$2,670K/5

$720

$534

n/a

24.20%

Turtle Ridge

February 2012

$1,899K/27

$955K/4

$527

$441

24.20%

18.90%

January 2012

$1,672K/32

$532K/4

$493

$355

-13.80%

-25.30%

Turtle Rock

February 2012

$1,024K/38

$1,422K/4

$457

$559

89.50%

14.30%

January 2012

$974K/40

$545K/8

$458

$295

-20.30%

-14.20%

University Park

February 2012

$578K/14

$555K/4

$297

$286

1.80%

9.60%

January 2012

$595K/14

$420K/7

$289

$281

-15.10%

-10.80%

University Town Center

February 2012

$347K/6

$384K/1

$342

$265

-15.90%

-19.50%

January 2012

$467K/10

$480K/1

$330

$315

-4%

n/a

Walnut

February 2012

$600K/5

$509K/3

$316

$310

19.70%

-9.40%

January 2012

$600K/11

$596K/4

$298

$259

-9.80%

-12.80%

West Irvine

n/a

Westpark

February 2012

$649K/21

$506K/6

$319

$361

1.40%

21.50%

January 2012

$552K/20

$695K/2

$331

$356

-6.60%

-11.20%

Woodbridge

February 2012

$459K/83

$399K/23

$328

$312

14.30%

-4.90%

January 2012

$435K/93

$402K/15

$317

$273

-13.10%

-6.20%

Woodbury

February 2012

$650K/33

$419K/8

$330

$298

1.40%

-4.70%

January 2012

$611K/44

$460K/8

$314

$292

-2%

-16.80%

Source: Redfin.com

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Home Architectural Design

Casa Mecano by ROBLESARQ

Posted: 26 Mar 2012 08:14 PM PDT

Casa Mecano by ROBLESARQ in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica: House Mecano is a body composed of a structure, a skin and a mechanism to adapt to their environment. The Concept of the residence arises in the use of passive strategies through bioclimatic design in synergy with an automation system that controls the appropriate [...]

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Irvine Housing Blog

Sale!  40% off in Westpark

Posted: 27 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PDT

In the gated community of Corta Bella in Westpark where half of the housing inventory is rented, there are two identical two bedroom condominiums for sale. They would make good rental properties, or starter homes. In 2011, these homes had rented between $1900 to $2100 per month. Both have a two car garage on one floor, living/dining spaces and kitchen on another one, and bedrooms on the top floor. The community has a mix of 83% white collar, and 17% blue collar workforce with a median income of $95,883.

	19 PALMIERI AISLE Irvine, CA 92606	15 BETTONI AISLE Irvine, CA 92606
Listing Price	$360,000	$341,900
Beds/ bath	2 Beds + 2 Baths	2 Beds + 2.5 Baths
Area	1302	1302 SF
Price/ SF	$276	$263
Levels	Three Levels	Two Levels
Year Built	1993	1993
Previous sale	$177,000 in May 1994 $186,000 in Feb 1998 $375,000 in July 2003 $537,500 in Aug 2005 Discount from peak: $177,50	$186,500 in Dec 1994 $571,000 in May 2006 $360,000 in June 2011 (Foreclosed) Discount from peak: $229,100
Floor Plan	Builders Tract Name: Corte Bella Builders Tract Code: CB Builders Model Name: IL Romantico Builders Model Code: B	Builders Tract Name: Corte Bella Builders Tract Code: CB Builders Model Name: IL Romantico Builders Model Code: G
Type of Sale	Short Sale	Standard Sale
Elementary School	Westpark Elementary School (Year Round School) API Rank 9 API Growth: 913 Culverdale Elementary School API Rank: 8 API Growth: 857
Middle School	Southlake Middle School API Rank: 10 API Growth: 916
High School	University High School API Rank: 10 API Growth: 908
Down payment	$72,000	$68,380
Monthly mortgage, assuming 20% down payment, and 30 YR Fixed at 3.875%	$1396.00 Monthly	$1326.00 Monthly
Home Owner’s Dues	$305 + $41 = $346	$292 + $43 = $335
Mello-Roos	$643.63 Annually $53.63 Monthly	$643.63 Annually $53.63 Monthly
Property Tax (1.18681%)	$4272.50 Annually $356 Monthly	$4057.70 Annually $338 Monthly
Fixed Monthly Cost of owning	$2151.63	$2052.63

Westpark Sales History of similar homes since 2006:

2006:
1 Torrigiani Aisle $598,000
15 Bettoni Aisle $571,000
1 Cigliano isle $570,000
3 Palmieri Aisle $550,000
3 Imperial Aisle $530,000

2007:
2 Arese Aisle $550,000
1 Crivelli Aisle $530,000
20 Palmieri Aisle $529,000
3 Crivelli Aisle $484,000

2008:
2 Arese Aisle $485,000

2009:
3 Crivelli Aisle $449,000
2 Crivelli Aisle $443,000
3 Cigliano Aisle $440,000

2010:
1 Palmieri Aisle $445,000
21 Palmieri Aisle $441,000
1 Mozzoni Aisle $429,000
14 Bettoni Aisle $427,000
3 Cuzzano Aisle $410,000
1 Arese Aisle $399,000

2011:
26 Crivelli Aisle $358,888

Over the period of five years, the price of these condos has fallen from $598,000 to $358,888. That is a loss of $239,112, or forty percent loss on the investment. 2012 listing prices are in the $340,000 to $360,000 range. The market is still in correction mode. According to Trulia,” The median sales price for homes in Irvine CA for Dec 11 to Feb 12 was $480,000. This represents a decline of 2.7%, or $13,500, compared to the prior quarter and a decrease of 12.6% compared to the prior year. Sales prices have depreciated 29.4% over the last 5 years in Irvine.”

Would you buy one of these condominiums as a starter home or an investment property? Which one would you prefer? Short Sale or Standard Sale?

Plan G (15 Bettoni) has a half bathroom downstairs, but Plan B (19 Palmieri) has bathrooms only with the bedroom spaces. Plan G has laundry in the garage, while Plan B has laundry with the living spaces. Going by those two, I would prefer Plan G. Would the half bathroom and laundry space matter to you in a three level house?

Monday, March 26, 2012

Home Architectural Design

Nettleton 199 by SAOTA and OKHA Interiors

Posted: 25 Mar 2012 11:55 PM PDT

Nettleton 199 by SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects and OKHA Interiors in Clifton, Cape Town, South Africa: The brief was to create a building that maximised the connection with the view and the sea, create a garden on the mountain side of the site and to minimise views over neighbouring buildings. The site [...]

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Heatherland Poolhouse by Satellite Architects Limited

Posted: 25 Mar 2012 11:19 PM PDT

Heatherland Pool House by Satellite Architects in Woodhouse Lane, Dorset, United Kingdom: Heatherlands is a substantial addition to an existing house, built in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Dorset Devon border. It responds carefully to the folding of the landscape and roof pitches of the existing house. The folds create splits which [...]

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Irvine Housing Blog

Lambert Ranch - Private Preview

Posted: 26 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Lambert Ranch is a new development that is being built by The New Home Company. It is located/surrounded by Portola Springs and here is a rough idea of the location (click for a bigger image):

The grand opening is on April 28th, 2012 but they had a private preview event this past weekend. There are a few members in the TI forums who visited and had some feedback:

From kalbi:

Just got back. Checked out The Grove (starting at $1.2 M). Lots are small. Approx 6000 sq ft with about 4300 sq ft in living space. Yard is practically nonexistent. The tour guide was focusing on the "courtyard" as the yard. Love the downstairs for the most part, love the kitchen island in all floor plans and the great room. Also like the casita (Plan 3 has a HUGE separate casita). Upstairs left much to be desired. All secondary bedrooms are rather small. Master bedroom itself is also rather small, bathrooms are decent size.

Also, you can see the 241 from the models as well as the landfill.
The Hills start at the low mil. Bedrooms are a tad bigger than The Grove bedrooms but again, rather small.
Overall impression, decent floor plans but would not buy there because of the price and location.
They have one rec room for the association called the "ranch house" with pool and ping pong table. No tennis courts. I guess ping pong for the asians?

From Arman:

Having looked at 100+ model homes over the past several years in Southern California, these are some of the most impressive I've seen. The Hill was nice, but the Grove was quite unique. What's great about these model homes is that every floorplan is different from every other floorplan in the community, unlike Laguna Altura, for example, which are variations on each other, and were exactly the same as floorplans used in other Irvine Pacific developments. As a group, the homes in Lambert Ranch are quite large as well, something else that is unique in today's economy. Will these sell? Who knows. But, if someone's looking for something new and something of this size in Irvine, it's about the only option available. With Orchard Hills MIA for the foreseeable future (and certainly not opening in 2013 as was advertised on the Irvine Company website a couple years ago), I don't know what else may be in the pipeline that may offer something of similar size or quality in the central OC area.

Any thoughts from anyone else who visited?

Discuss below or on the active TI thread.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

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