Sale Price: $655,000
** SALE UPDATE **
This house sold on 6/1/2007 for $655,000. This was one of our first identified rollbacks, and the sale price proves it. If the seller paid a 6% commission, they lost a total of $59,300.
As I had speculated below, the other property at 3 Del Mar has reduced the asking price significantly. This property likely will become a rollback as well.
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Asking Price: $690,000
Purchase Price: $675,000
Purchase Date: 9/23/2004
Address: 8 Del Mar #4, Irvine, CA 92602
Beds: 3
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.*: 1,601
Year Built: 2002
Stories: 2
Type: Condominium
Neighborhood: Northpark
$/Sq. Ft.*: $431
MLS: S479457
Status: Active on market
On Redfin: 43 days
2006, gone! 2005, gone! We are looking at a buyer from 2004 who will be selling at a loss in Northpark. If our seller gets their asking price (unlikely) assuming a 6% commission, they will lose $26,400.
From Redfin: "Move right in to this charming 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath detached home. The gourmet kitchen has granite countertop and backsplash, cherrywood cabinets, built-in wine cooler and stainless steel appliances. There's a fireplace and built-in media niche in the livingroom. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and a jacuzzi bathtub. Relax and enjoy a cool drink in the comfortable low maintenance side yard. Convenient upstairs laundry. Stainless steel refrigerator and washer/dryer are included."
This is a nice, updated property. It is still pretty expensive at $431 / SF, but it is a value relative to the pricing in Northpark. Compare it to this property:
Old Asking Price: $870,000
New Asking Price: $769,000
Purchase Price: $750,000
Purchase Date: 4/27/2005
Address: 3 Del Mar, Irvine, CA 92602
Beds: 3
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.*: 1,813
Year Built: 2002
Stories: 2
$/Sq. Ft.*: $480
MLS: I703772
Status: Active on market
On Redfin: 55 days
This seller / flipper wants $180,000 more for a house that isn't updated. Since this house is empty, and the comps are about to flatten him, I suspect this seller will find the motivation for some significant asking price reductions. Also, look out for it being offered as a rental -- a sign of deep denial.
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May 2007 saw the reasonably-well publicized departure of David Lereah as "Chief Economist" of the National Association of Realtors. To understate the point, Mr. Lereah has been the object of plenty of attention in the housing blog community. Most of the attention was negative, and resulted from the frustration of repeatedly seeing and hearing him quoted in the mainstream media as something of an impartial expert regarding the condition of the housing market. Perhaps not surprisingly, Mr. Lereah tended toward the positive in his interpretation of housing sales data and future predictions, even when signs of weakness began to appear in the market. This must-see graph captures some of his better quotes, and when he offered them.
For those that didn't explore the first link, Mr. Lereah published a book in early 2005 entitled "Are you missing the Real Estate Boom? Why home values and other real estate investments will climb through the end of the decade- and how you can profit from them."
In 2006, this book was retitled "Why the Real Estate Boom will not bust- and how you can profit from it. How to build wealth in today's expanding real eastate market."
It is therefore interesting and amusing to see Mr. Lereah change the spin on his way out the door, and begin to apply some revisionist history. In this interview with Bob Brinker from early May, he even goes so far as to chastise the "speculators who strayed from fundamentals...and got us in trouble."
David Lereah Interview
[audio:http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/DavidLereah.mp3]
If you want to skip ahead, his comments regarding Southern California arrive just after the 13 minute mark. Here are the highlights:
"L.A., San Diego, they are all out of whack right now. Prices got too high for the median household...there's going to be a long period here, of recovery. Homesellers have been stubborn, they haven't been reducing their prices as fast as their Northeast counterparts. Home sales are way down right now, and it will take price decreases- sellers lowering their prices- to bring buyers back to the marketplace. I suspect we're not going to see any type of recovery there until at least 2008."
While these decidedly negative comments may not sound particularly surprising to many of us, they are coming from the most prominent market cheerleader of the past several years, bar-none. The 'soft landing' holdouts may find this particularly sobering (and they should).
Despite this apparent dose of rationality, David still makes some bizarre remarks that are worth listening for:
- If speculators wouldn't have come in to Vegas...
- Commissions are Commissions
- The baseball team the could save D.C. real estate
- Fingers and toes crossed, X2
Bob didn't exactly give him a tough interview, but having David on the hook for more than a glib, obfuscated single quote was worth it to me.
It will be interesting to see how David's heir apparent, Lawrence Yun, does carrying the torch as the market continues to correct, unwind, fall apart, or whatever you want to call it. Donning the skirt and waving the pom poms will require even more gumption in the months ahead.
Rancho San Joaquin is a small Irvine Village comprised mostly of high density residential housing. What makes this Village unique is the abundance of recreational activities.
Rancho San Joaquin is bounded by Culver Drive, Michelson Drive, University Drive, and Harvard Avenue. It forms a buffer area between residential developments to the east and the commercial area on Jamboree and the Newport Bay wash to the west.
The Irvine Historical Museum is located here. Did you even know it existed?
There is an active senior center.
The Racquet Club of Irvine calls Rancho San Joaquin home.
Clubhouse at the racquet club.
The Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course is here.
The property has nice views of the Airport area developments.
The course is open to the public and receives a great deal of play.
Par 3 # 13. Don't be short or right.
One of my favorite places in (or near) Rancho San Joaquin is Boomers.
The local kids play castle.
Speed climbing wall.
Laser tag.
Batting cages.
Go carts for small kids.
Carnival rides for all ages.
Go carts for older kids and the young at heart.
Landscaped mini-golf.
Bumper boats.
The high density housing includes Rancho San Joaquin Apartments. Some have nice golf course views.
There is an internal waterway winding through the community.
The Villas townhome community.
There are a variety of condos.
The architecture is nice, but not award winning.
Most of the properties are very well kept.
Rancho San Joaquin is a relatively affordable Irvine neighborhood with an abundance of recreational activities, and it is conveniently located near the Culver / 405 interchange. If you work hard and play hard, this is the Village for you.
Irvine's Rancho San Joaquin: A great place to live.
