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Latest REOs
- $199,900 :: 3125 Watermarke Pl, Irvine CA, 92612
- $349,900 :: 10 Greenleaf 16, Irvine CA, 92604
- $439,900 :: 61 Olivehurst, Irvine CA, 92602
- $889,900 :: 14 Upland, Irvine CA, 92602
- $429,900 :: 56 Great Lawn, Irvine CA, 92620
- $465,000 :: 212 Garden Gate Ln, Irvine CA, 92620
- $329,000 :: 1006 Terra Bella, Irvine CA, 92602
- $579,900 :: 8 Star Thistle, Irvine CA, 92604
- $398,900 :: 191 Lockford, Irvine CA, 92602
- $750,000 :: 69 Lakeview 6, Irvine CA, 92604
Noticing something interesting.. IR, the last few properties you featured were modest but decent-sized in the mid-$200/sf range. Is this now the average in Irvine, or are you picking them out, or is this just coincidence?
I try to feature properties that are low-price leaders that have interesting back stories. The typical Irvine property is now trading in the low $300s per SF and falling. I doubt the average $/SF will get to the mid $200s/SF, but I could easily see $275/SF particularly this fall and winter after the lower conforming limit further restricts demand and the inventory weight pushed prices lower.
“The housing bust has been very hard on the homebuilding industry. Nobody anticipated new construction taking out the previous low of 1992 and staying below this level for nearly 4 years.”
Hey, I resent being called “Nobody”!
Few were as bearish as I was in 2006/2007 and I still don’t see much room for optimism today. I think it will be several years before I’ll be able to find a decent job in homebuilding again in Orange County.
Wonder if there is any snapshots spillover in Irvine…
Chinese Homebuyers Spreading Wealth Make Vancouver Pricier Than Manhattan
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-16/chinese-spreading-wealth-make-vancouver-homes-pricier-than-nyc.html
“associated spillover” I mean ( crazy spelling autocorrector!)
Similar buying could happen in US cities, but Vancouver has a leg up since Canada is a marshmallow at handing out residency/investor visas, and both Canada and formerly HK are Commonwealth countries.
Also, HK prices are insane, so Vancouver still looks cheap in comparison.
Most of the current Chinese RE investors are literally parking money. They like the ease of emigrating to Canada someday in case of political turmoil in China, but realistically that rarely happens since the action is in China.
If this place sells for the ask,that’s a 200K plus loss all for the pleasure of living in Irvine for 3.5 years. I doubt these were the ultra smart FCBs we always hear about. Genes like this are not passed down to Ivy league college material. Bwahahahaha!
More than likely an FCB will buy this place as an investment.
From their standpoint, it’s a $200K discount off what the previous owner paid.
Yes, we all know that FCBs are much too smart to pay for overinflated real estate. The Japanaese from 20 years ago were an anomaly!
Bwahahaahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TIC seems to still have their blinders on.
They just opened up Laguna Altura on Sunday and prices for those homes are $100k-$200k more than their almost exact same floorplans in Stonegate/Woodbury. There were tons of lookie-loos… but let’s see if that translates into sales.
I think Dan Young was wrong… 2011 will not be better than 2010. In fact, they’ve already started offering broker co-ops in Stonegate/Woodbury, something they didn’t have to do in 2010.
Is their current pricing higher compared to the 2010 product?
I believe it is for Laguna Altura.
Stonegate might be on par or even a bit less than Woodbury.
The double dip may be the perfect storm for TIC sales. They may have built the wrong product in the wrong place for the wrong price at the wrong time. Only time will tell.
TIC is running a very effective marketing campaign.
Brokers co-op and other design or closing incentives are already baked in their pricing models.
The use of “faux” financial incentives like the broker co-op allows TIC to enlist area realtors that will do the heavy lifting and pump their product for a small cut.
It’s the equivalent of hiring mercenaries under the pretense of throwing the buyers a bone.
Buyers feel that they’re getting over on TIC, when it’s actually the other way around.
are they offering broker co-ops in laguna Altura yet? I guess closer to the beach deserves that premium? in Univ HS district?
With all their billions couldn’t TIC have vetted the name “Laguna Altura”. By trying to mimic Spanish sounding place names they have come up with laughable gibberish on par with the silly tranliterated English signs found in China. What they were going for was “Laguna Alta” or “Los Altos de Laguna”.
This annoyance is on par with me with TIC’s insistence that Portola is “North” Irvine. Hey TIC when you go to the store for a Spanish usage guide pick up a compass as well.
Sorry to sweat the small stuff but I expect better from billionaires.
Portola is North Irvine, geographically… unfortunately, I think you’re referring to Portola Springs, as most people would when they refer to “Portola”, which is more like East-North-East Irvine.
Right, Portola Springs as in the house featured in the blog today.
gotcha. now “West Irvine”, talk about a potential head scratcher.
I can imagine the conversation between a perspective buyer and agent going something like, “How do I get there?” “Go North-North-East on Jamboree until you pass the Marketplace. Then turn right (East)”.
I am currently renting ($2300 per month)in Irvine. I plan to live here at least another 4-5 years while my kid attends school. Is it a good time to buy a condo in the Woodbridge HS area?
It’s never a good time to buy a condo, except before a bubble.
It is a good time to shop around for cheaper rent though.
Agreed, set your sights for a house in Irvine. At your current monthly you are in condo/old home range already…
CHEWB,
I have been seeing more condos in my daily profiles selling at or below the cost of an equivalent rental. Under those circumstances, saving money versus renting may be a good option for you if you accept the value may not rise for several years and will likely go down.
I am buying real estate for myself in a declining market in Las Vegas because it’s cashflow positive. If you save money versus renting during your ownership, and if you can wait out the market bottoming period, it can work out in your favor. However, should you need to sell for any reason over the next 3 to 5 years, you will likely lose money.
Yes some people are realizing that whatever house you buy now, you are going to get stuck to it for a while…therefore why is the rush to buy something now if you are not going to be able to upgrade in the near future?!
This is a market with little buyer urgency, and it will remain so until prices are low enough to motivate buyers.
“Carlsbad foreclosure lawyer loses his license
Declaring that he poses a substantial threat of harm to the public, the State Bar Court lifted the law license of MICHAEL T. PINES, the Carlsbad attorney who made national headlines by advising clients to break into their foreclosed homes and start living there again. He was placed on involuntary inactive status May 1…” http://www.calbarjournal.com/May2011/AttorneyDiscipline/Feature.aspx
CHEWB- With the artificially low rates and current prices, some properties are at or below rental parity. That said, if you are only planning on holding the property for 5 years, you will most likely be better off continuing to rent. There is still a lot more downside risk than upside potential. Particularly when you factor in added risks with HOA’s, shadow inventory, and the high likelihood of rising interest rates that will put downward pressure on prices over the next few years.
There’s only one thing guaranteed in 5 years:
You will be 5 years older and you will have 5 less years to live.
Outside of that there is no guarantee as to whether renting or owning will be better. Market factors and individuals factors will dictate that, suggesting one is clearly better lends itself to 5 year folly.
You have to consider your quality of life and what a home means to you. For most people fixing it up and painting, decorating, planting makes a house a home. Having folks over for dinner and just enjoying your home makes it worth owning over renting. Money can’t always be your factor in life because that chase is never ending.
You forgot ANOTHER thing that’s guaranteed; in 5 years the U.S. will resemble Guatemala EVEN MORE.
affordability? $250/sqft needs to be the rule, not the exception. we’re still $50 a square foot too high. interest rates and seasonality aren’t helping get prices where they need to be. wait til October or December, we’ll be there.
With some of the very high HOA as in the NKT and WM, it’s almost like renting from the HOA. The HOA is almost like a landlord. Some of the HOA are so restrictive and in approvig the exterior painting, landscaping, remodeling, it’s rent city except you need to arrange and pay for the repairs. The down side risk of buying in Irvine is still too high, but cash on the side line has down side risk too.
limited approved paint colors doesn’t necessarily bother me, it arguably helps property values and continuity, which keeps people living in these neighborhoods longer and therefore a sense of community.
but paying anywhere near $285 a month for landscaping and a community pool hurts. and I bet this one has Mello Roos tax too (didn’t find it in the listing but that’s what I usually find on the newer Irvine developments).
The annual tax on this one is;$8,551 based upon the current tax assessment of $534,000 so the mello roos is circa $3200/year. The newer construction ie. 2003 or newer rarely make sense in Irvine because mello roos started to get out of control.
I doubt the young will benefit much from a continually deteriorating American economy.
Cheap houses aren’t really very cheap when you can’t afford your student loan payments or to move out of your parents’ basement.
Of course an eventual recovery would be good for those who buy low and can then sell high, but what if that never happens?