Housing Prices Climb for 23rd Straight Month

The price of a typical home in Orange County moved up 5.5% last month to $232,000, the 23rd month in a row that prices have chalked up gains over the same month a year earlier, a real estate research firm reported Thursday.

Home sales set a record in April, as agents reported brisk activity, particularly at the lower end of the market. Sales climbed 1.5% to 4,658, surpassing the previous high for April, which was set last year, according to Acxiom/Dataquick Information Systems of La Jolla.

Although inventories thinned and homes on the market seemed to be receiving fewer multiple offers, potential buyers remained plentiful, agents said.

Condominiums, the traditional gateway to homeownership in California, took center stage. Median condo prices--meaning half cost more, half cost less--rose 7.7% to a record $160,000.

Condo sales surged 18.7%, while sales of new and existing homes tapered off from a year ago, the report found.

The results confirm that attached units, the last segment to regain full value from the housing slump earlier this decade, now have begun to scale new peaks.

“Condominiums have had a tremendous increase in sales in our area,” said David Macleod, an agent at Century 21 Beachside in Huntington Beach. He said he is on track to sell 24 condos this year, compared to only six a year ago.

“We’re seeing a lot of first-time buyers who can’t afford homes, but can afford a condominium or a townhome, which are 30% to 40% cheaper than a single-family home.”

Single-family homes, especially in Orange County, remain the preferred residence. But as costs have moved up, condominiums have become increasingly attractive for singles and newly married couples.

Builders of new condominiums say sales are booming.

Since opening a 130-unit complex in Rancho Santa Margarita in late February, Irvine-based Regis Homes LP has sold more than half of the units, even with a 20% bump in prices. The company expects to sell out the Terracina homes, priced between $160,000 and $190,000, by July, nearly a full year ahead of projections.

“We expect to sell out as quickly as we can write contracts,” said Joe Richter, the company’s president. “Clearly, those types of sales rates show an extreme need for housing.”

Throughout much of the decade, builders refrained from constructing condominiums and townhomes in order to avoid being sued over defects. As a result, attached homes throughout Orange County remain scarce.

While the condo market heated up, some agents said there were pockets of softness in other segments, with home prices moving up at a slower rate.

“I see an appreciating market going up a little faster than inflation, but I don’t see an appreciating market like we had last year,” said John Williams, an agent with ReMax Real Estate Services at Monarch Beach.

Others said they have seen some buyer reluctance to pay higher and higher prices, fearing the market could suddenly drop as it did earlier this decade, leaving buyers owing more on mortgages than their homes were worth.

But those holding out for an irresistible deal often end up regretting their decision, said Lesslie Giacobbi, an agent at Seven Gables Real Estate. She recalled that a year ago a client offered $290,000 for a Villa Park home listed at $345,000. The offer was turned down. Recently, he paid $420,000 for a similar home in the same neighborhood.

“Had he bitten the bullet a year ago,” Giacobbi said, “he could have saved himself a lot of money.”

Indeed, median prices rose across the board. While condominium prices climbed 7.7%, the typical price of an existing home moved up 7.2% to $252,000, and the new-home price increased 5.2% to $313,000, Acxiom/Dataquick said.

In fact, if lower-priced condo sales hadn’t held down the total values last month, the median price would have easily surpassed the record of $236,000, said John Karevoll, an Acxiom/Dataquick analyst who conducted the study.

“The market’s continuing to grow, and it’s surprising everybody how strong it is,” he said.

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Median resale condo price, April:

1999: $160,000

1998: 148,500

1997: 121,000

1996: 120,000

1995: 132,000

Source: Acxiom/Dataquick

Orange County Home Sales

April home sales totaled 4,658, up 1.5% from a year ago. The median price was $232,000, up 5.5% from last April’s median of $220,000. Sales, median price and median price per square foot for new and resale homes and condominiums, by ZIP code:

(table)

Sales, Price Trends

Monthly Sales

April 1998: 4.589

April 1999: 4.658

Median Price

April 1998: $220,000

April 1999: $232,000

April Sales

1995: 2,143

1999: 4,658

April Median Price

1995: $195,000

1999: $232,000