Balboa Island Homes Getting the Most Price Cuts

Supporting views that the housing crisis is moving towards high-end homes, the number of price cuts in Orange County’s upscale neighborhoods has collectively increased over the past several weeks, according to online real estate tracker Trulia.com.

Topping the list is Balboa Island, a popular tourist spot in Newport Beach, with 46% of its active inventory having experienced at least one price cut in the said period. The average drop was 11% of the asking price, or a reduction of $356,091.

For the rest of Newport Beach, 28% of homes for sale have had to reduce their prices by an average of 9.5%. Figures vary slightly from one ZIP to another, but Balboa Island (ZIP code 92662) so far tops all other neighborhoods.

Balboa Island is followed by Silverado, where 43% of homes for sale have reduced their prices. Rounding up the top five are Villa Park, Garden Grove, and Los Alamitos, with 40%, 39%, and 38% of homes respectively having had adjustments.

Although not mentioned in the Trulia report, market times for the top homes also tend to be higher than the rest of the country, qualifying as a deep buyer’s market. Newport Beach alone has seen market times of close to 12 months in the first half of 2010.

Also worth noting is the high average prices in cities having the largest price cuts. In Balboa Island, for example, homes averaged $2.9 million after the reductions, still several times the county average of $430,000. Some Newport Beach ZIPs had post-reduction prices of close to $4 million.

 

Earlier in Newport Beach Real Estate News:
Corona del Mar Homes Hardest To Sell In O.C.
Corona Del Mar Home Sells At $12 Million Cut
Newport Beach Makes California Top 10 Gains List