The Irvine Housing Numbers by Neighborhood—April 2013

For a snapshot of the Irvine housing numbers by neighborhood in 2012, see my previous post. And for a look at what is happening this year, see the following:

Area	List Price/# Homes Listed	Sold Price/# Homes Sold	List Per SF	Sold Per SF	% Chg Y-O-Y Sold Price/SF
Airport/IBC
13-Apr	$713K/37	$460K/31	$410	$376	24.50%
13-Jan	$694K/40	$440K/13	$398	$333	8.10%
Columbus Grove	n/a
El Camino Real
13-Apr	$607K/10	$490K/11	$369	$393	36.50%
13-Jan	$535K/17	$555K/12	$366	$380	42.30%
Northpark
13-Apr	$625K/25	$625K/31	$359	$341	20.50%
13-Jan	$722K/24	$466K/22	$351	$321	15.90%
Northwood
13-Apr	$798K/33	$738K/34	$377	$362	16.80%
13-Jan	$750K/23	$750K/25	$373	$305	4.50%
Oak Creek
13-Apr	$330K/13	$435K/25	$361	$359	14%
13-Jan	$362K/14	$362K/14	$362	$338	29.50%
Orange Tree
13-Apr	$300K/9	$274K/8	$380	$326	60.60%
13-Jan	$278K/8	$328K/4	$345	$332	33.30%
Portola Springs
13-Apr	$608K/4	$667K/11	$347	$385	28.80%
13-Jan	$1,024K/8	$614K/8	$375	$329	12.30%
Quail Hill
13-Apr	$754K/14	$860K/14	$413	$431	15.20%
13-Jan	$790K/10	$600K/7	$414	$341	4.60%
Rancho San Joaquin
13-Apr	n/a/0	$486K/4	n/a	$367	n/a
13-Jan	$564K/2	na/0	$333	n/a	n/a
Shady Canyon
13-Apr	$5,995K/23	$4,538K/2	$776	$777	51.80%
13-Jan	$5,700K/15	$6,675K/1	$736	$668	25.10%
Turtle Ridge
13-Apr	$1,414K/22	$940K/13	$594	$531	26.10%
13-Jan	$2,302K/10	$1,295K/6	$605	$532	49.90%
Turtle Rock
13-Apr	$1,025K/21	$895K/12	$545	$462	0.20%
13-Jan	$949K/13	$946K/8	$434	$466	58%
University Park
13-Apr	$625K/9	$661K/11	$406	$327	20.20%
13-Jan	$625K/7	$570K/10	$330	$351	26.70%
University Town Center
13-Apr	$589K/2	$477K/2	$365	$393	19.50%
13-Jan	$551K/1	$575K/1	$407	$377	19.70%
Walnut
13-Apr	$620K/6	$580K/11	$398	$395	29.10%
13-Jan	$430K/3	$657K/4	$350	$275	6.20%
West Irvine	n/a
Westpark
13-Apr	$824K/6	$700K/6	$411	$414	33.10%
13-Jan	$589K/4	$745K/6	$486	$340	-4.50%
Woodbridge
13-Apr	$585K/31	$659K/34	$409	$377	30.40%
13-Jan	$694K/22	$500K/22	$363	$357	30.80%
Woodbury
13-Apr	$699K/19	$647K/28	$424	$404	38.80%
13-Jan	$635K/11	$645K/17	$382	$331	13.40%

“It’s about serving everybody in the community….A local food system makes a lot of sense to me because the money stays in that local community and we can create jobs, thousands of jobs. As we talk today we are losing rural farm lands, and we’re losing rural farmers. So what we need to do is grow farmers…train farmers to be able to farm a different kind of way.”

“The UN stated in 2010 that the only way we end world hunger is local food systems.”

–Will Allen, Urban Farmer and MacArthur Genius Grant Recipient

In a radio interview, urban farmer Will Allen stated that we are losing farmers at a rapid rate. Of course, we need farmers to grow much of our food, so Allen has a solution: We need to “grow farmers.” Allen also states that conventional farms will continue to be part of the mix but that we also need to develop more urban farms. (Urban farms have many variations. For example, they might involve intensive growing of produce on small plots such as school yards, rooftops, and former vacant lots. They may, or may not, include animals.) Fortunately, urban farming is an occupation that many in the younger age bracket find appealing.

Growing more urban farmers is just what is happening at the Orange County Great Park. The Great Park’s Veteran’s Agricultural Learning – Opportunities & Resources (VALOR) Program is helping to develop more farmers as well as train vets for a new career. Here are some details about the VALOR Program:

The Great Park VALOR Program is open to veterans from any service branch and contains two main components. The first component is classroom and field work at the Orange County Great Park. The second component consists of field work at the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. The first VALOR Program was set to start last fall and end in the middle of this month (mid-May 2013). Originally, six applicants were to be accepted into the first round of this program, but the applicant number was reduced to two.

As stated on the Great Park website, additional facets of the VALOR Program are as follows:

• An 8 month program, beginning Monday, September 10, 2012 through Mid-May 2013

• 800 hours of paid internship with the City of Irvine

• 12 core sections of study

• A.G. Kawamura, Former Secretary for the California Department of Food & Agriculture, acts as the main instructor

• Instruction and mentorship provided by the Orange County Farm Bureau and other industry professionals

• 30 continuing education units

• Certificate of Completion from Brandman University, part of the Chapman University System

For additional information, contact the Farmer-Veteran Coalition at info@farmvetco.org or (530) 756-1395.

An interesting side note: The Urban Farm Magazine’s editorial, production, and corporate office is located in Irvine.

The Altos Market Action Index (MAI) for Irvine’s single-family homes is still climbing. When I checked in about a month ago, the MAI was 41.16. On April 19, the Altos MAI rose to 44.36. So the Irvine single-family housing market still climbs farther into what Altos defines as a seller’s market. (Above 30 is defined as a seller’s market; below is defined as a buyer’s market.) Altos also states that the average single-family home in Irvine has been on the market for about 113 days as of April 19, 2013.

Altos Market Action Index for Single-family Homes in Irvine

Altos Research

Following is an update for the Irvine housing market as provided by Redfin.

Type	List Price/# Homes Listed	Sold Price/# Homes Sold	List Per SF	Sold Per SF	% Chg Y-O-Y Sold Price/SF
Houses
13-Mar	$1,089K/94	$820K/141	$449	$382	14%
13-Feb	na/109	na/272	$415	$354	n/a
13-Jan	na/113	na/274	$409	$357	n/a
Condos
13-Mar	$618K/105	$460K/140	$378	$348	16%
13-Feb	na/100	na/301	$369	$325	n.a
13-Jan	na/106	na/324	$377	$327	n/a
All
13-Mar	$750K/206	$616K/288	$404	$368	16.10%
13-Feb	na/209	na/573	$389	$334	n/a
13-Jan	na/219	na/598	$389	$338	n/a

The Irvine housing market, as well as most of the Orange County housing market, is heating up. That is not a new story, but to exemplify this we will take a look at what has happened to the price of homes in a new Irvine housing development.

The new development of Willow Bend in Irvine’s University Park opened for viewing a few weeks ago. Three models are available to tour and buy if you qualify and like the price. So what is the price? In February, the asking price was advertised as “starting in the $900,000s.” But the price is now stated as “anticipated to start in the low $1 millions.”

A healthy housing market ladder allows non-cash buyers and first-time homebuyers to participate in the housing market without encountering extraordinary obstacles. These obstacles might include housing prices that are not in line with incomes and a market that includes a large number of investors who squeeze out potential home buyers. With that in mind, what do you think? Should we call this an example of a return to a healthy housing market or a dysfunctional market that distorts the housing market ladder?

Here are some additional details on the Willow Bend homes in Irvine’s University Park neighborhood:

Images from http://lyonhomes.com/southern-california/willowbend

Residence 1

• 2,209 Square Feet
• 3 Bedrooms
• 2.5 Bathrooms
• 2-Car Garage
• Office

Residence 2

• 2,394 Square Feet
• 4 Bedrooms
• 3 Bathrooms
• 2-Car Garage
• Optional Loft , Optional Den

Residence 3

• 2,570 Square Feet
• 5 Bedrooms
• 3 Bathrooms
• 2-Car Garage
• Optional Loft

The Orange County and the Inland Empire chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an international nonprofit research and education organization that focuses on land use and real estate development, will host the Third Annual Orange County and Inland Empire Best of the Best (BoB) Awards. The BoB awards are presented to Orange County and Inland Empire businesses that excelled in sustainability building design and development.

The keynote speaker is Ed Mazria, Founder and CEO of Architecture 2030, a research organization that focuses on ways to incorporate building design standards that reduce energy consumption and the effects of a changing climate. He also developed the 2030 Challenge, a global strategy for significantly reducing energy use, which will thereby greatly reduce greenhouse gases, by 2030. In addition, Mazria has written numerous books such as the The Passive Solar Energy Book.

Frucoe Engineering received the Urban Land Institute Orange County-Inland Empire's First Annual Best of the Best (BOB) Award for Community Development for its work on the Boy Scouts of America's Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center.

The 2013 Orange County-Inland Empire Nominees are:

· ABC Green Home

· CHERP—Community Home Energy Retrofit Project

· Emerson HOA Avocado Grove

· Greenest City In Orange County

· Irvine Ranch Water District -Energy and Green House Gas Master Plan

· Laguna Niguel Gateway Specific Plan

· Meridian Business Park

· Partnership for a Greener Northtown

· PDE Total Energy Solutions

· Santa Ana Station District Revitalization

· Terraces at Santiago

· TriPointe Homes – Lamb & Wardlow School Sites

· WRCOG Sustainability Framework

· Restoration, Recreation in Buck Gully

Event Details are as follows:

· What: ULI Orange County/Inland Empire’s Sustainable Communities Initiative Council’s Third Annual Best of the Best (BoB) Awards

· Why: To showcase projects, policies and programs in the Orange County and the Inland Empire that have shown exceptional vision and achievement in addressing the issue of sustainable communities

· When: April 18, 2013, 7:30 am to 10:30 am

· Where: Ford Motor Company, 3 Glen Bell Way, Irvine, CA, 92618, United States

· Organizer: ULI Orange County/Inland Empire

· Cost: $35 to $75 (full-time students, free)

· Registration: online (http://orangecounty.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Registration_Form_81231308withfields.pdf) or (800) 321-5011

· Information: (714) 342-2965 or orangecounty@uli.org