Orange County real estate’s upper crust is off to a fast start to 2016.
For the 22 business days ending Jan. 8, the county’s 27 priciest ZIP codes – median sales price beginning at $715,000 – sales were up 20.1 percent compared to a year ago, our analysis of CoreLogic data shows.
In the 7 Orange County ZIP codes with median selling prices above $1 million, sales totaled 207 homes, up 6.2 percent compared to a year ago. And builder sales – median selling price was $849,000 – totalled 540, up 38.5 percent from a year ago.
Compares those upswings to countywide trends: 3,169 Orange County residences sold in the period, up 19.8 percent from a year ago. Sales rose in 52 of 83 Orange County ZIPs compared to the year-ago period.
Experts say sales at the low-end suffer due to limited supply of houses to buy. In the 27 least expensive ZIPs – median sales price at $540,000 and below – sales were up 10.7 percent compared to a year ago.
But resales of condos – relative bargains with a median selling price was $426,000 – rose 22.6 percent from a year ago.
Orange County’s median selling price for all residences was $625,000 – up 7.9 percent compared to a year ago. Prices were up in 60 of 83 Orange County ZIP codes compared to the previous year.
The most expensive ZIP code was Newport Coast 92657 with a median selling price of $3.76 million. Next was Newport Beach 92662 at $2.94 million.
Cheapest was Laguna Woods 92637 with a $276,000 median price; Garden Grove 92844 followed with a $345,000 median.
Contact the writer: jlansner@ocregister.com