Irvine, CA Market Update 1Q 2012

Irvine Home sales continue to be strong when compared to the overall Orange County real estate market. Looking at the previous 90 days ending Jan 31, 2012, Irvine accounted for 432 homes sold or 144 Irvine Homes sold per month. This is a time of year, November, December and January which is historically a slower market time. Comparing this data with the same period one year ago shows there were 441 sales in Irvine, for only a very slight decline in sales.

Dissecting the data into how condos faired vs Single family homes, Irvine condos accounted for 250 of those sales. Irvine Condos sold at $299.40 per square foot compared to 239 condos selling at $326.47 per square foot in the prior year. While the number of sales was up slightly, the price for square foot in Irvine Condos was down 8.3%. There are currently 309 Irvine condos for sale or slightly under 4 months of inventory. Single family homes accounted for 182 sales vs 202 sales of single family homes last year, this is a decline of 10% in sales. While there was a decline in number of homes sold, the average price per square for Irvine single family homes was down only 3.1%.

As is the case the overall Orange County real estate market, demand and sales activity is stronger at the lower end of the market. This is evident with the strong sales of Irvine condos. While the higher end of the Irvine real estate market continues to be slow, with neighborhoods such as The Summit at Turtle Ridge see limited activity. There were only seven sales within this neighborhood over the past 90 days. The average sales price of those sales was$2,275,257 or $542.44 per sq ft, both of these numbers are at the higher end to the over Irvine market.

The new home market in Irvine has seen only moderate activity. Irvine Company did introduce its newest development, Laguna Altura which is a high end development located in Laguna Canyon near Quail Hill.