Irvine Housing Blog

Similar Homes. Different Villages.

Two properties that we will compare today have a lot in common. They have similar floor plans. They have the same square feet area. They are situated in two beautiful villages of Irvine. Their schools have the desirable range of API and test scores. Both have two Home Owner Association dues. The similarity doesn’t end here, they are both extremely close to ‘Eastern Transportation Corridor’. Shopping districts, proximity to freeways and hospitals is also a tie. Still, there is a price difference of $129,000. Which one would you buy?

Closed Sales from 2/16/2012 to 2/22/2012

Active topics this week at Talk Irvine

There are some great discussions around Irvine real estate taking place in the Talk Irvine forums.  Take a look and join in!

• Will Irvine change from bedroom community to metropolitan by 2020?
• Lambert Ranch in Irvine (No Mello Roos!)
• The Irvine Castle
• Laguna Altura homes

The Neighborhood of University Hills

University Hills is the University of California, Irvine's campus housing community for individuals holding full time employement at UCI.  Seeing some of the homes in University HIlls from Bonita Canyon makes me want to get a job at UCI.  Part of the appeal is that it's kind of exclusive.  It's not like other parts of Irvine where (as long as you have enough money), you can buy or rent in any neighborhood.  The other draw is that the homes are so said to be much more affordable than their equivalents down the street in other parts of Irvine. 

According to the Irvine Campus Housing Authority website, "University HIlls...is generally regarded as the most successful on-campus housing program of its kind in the country."  It is an academic community in residence to provide affordable housing to eligible full time employees of the University of California, Irvine. University HIlls is located on the South end of campus, and is bordered by Anteater Drive, Los Trancos Drive, Gabrielino Drive, Vista Bonita Drive and California Avenue. 

Community Map

Note: Information from http://www.icha.uci.edu/

A Review of the San Mateo Tract at Stonegate

Déjà vu! San Mateo at Stonegate is the spitting image of the Siena tract at Laguna Altura. I’m not surprised, but am a little disappointed particularly because my original assessment of Siena at Laguna Altura was overpriced. I stand by my opinion. San Mateo is significantly cheaper than Laguna Altura and if I had to choose between the two locations, Stonegate or Laguna Altura, I’d choose Stonegate. I like the neighborhood better and you’re not surrounded by freeways. San Mateo is close to an on premises soccer field and Hummingbird Park. I was impressed with the park and soccer field. Summertime would be fun in this community.

Estimated Property Taxes and Special Assessments:
Base Property Tax:  1.05% of sales price
AD Tax:   $1,694 per year
CFD Tax:  $1,700 per year
Other Taxes:  $152 per year
Overall Effective Tax Rate: Approximately 1.7%

Siteplan

Revised Exterior Renderings

Floorplans

Pricing

2500 Sq Ft in 92602

There are 22 homes for sale currently. The median sold price is $810,000 and the median sold price per square foot is $319. With inventory down by 2% on a month-to-month basis, and down 30% on a year-to-year basis, and sale-to-list price at 97%, is it time to buy in the 92602 zip code of Irvine? 

Maybe, or maybe not, depending on where you want to buy in the zip code. It covers houses of West Irvine, North Park and North Park Square. Part of West Irvine and North Park Square are gated, some of North Park is guard gated. All of them have Tustin Unified School District Schools with Irvine addresses. All of them are close to Marketplace shopping. All of them have trails and parks in the neighborhood.

But still, there is as much as $75/SF price difference based on their location within 92602.

Today we will see what we pay for a 2500 SF single family residence in these three areas.

Closed Sales from 2/09/2012 to 2/15/2012