RSS Feeds
Search Open Houses 
|
Search New Construction
|
|
 |
1 of 6
Riverside, CA 92501
4581 Brandi Ln.
Listed Price: $279,900
Starting Bid: $112,000
|
 |
| REAL ESTATE RESOURCES |
|
|
|
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEIGHBORHOOD PAGES
Click on the cities and neighborhoods below for descriptions of life in these Los Angeles areas.
When "everybody's gone surfin'," like the Beach Boys song says, there's a good chance they've gone to Huntington Beach. Dubbing itself "Surf City," in part because the city is the site every year of world-class surfing competitions, Huntington Beach offers miles of public beaches and a lively downtown vibe.
Originally, the Shoshone Indians settled along this stretch of Orange County coastline, probably because of its mild climate. The first nonnative settler in the area came in 1797. Manuel Perez Nieto, a Spanish soldier, was granted the land by the Spanish government to encourage settlement in Alta California. More than a century later, in 1901, Philip Stanton, hoping to create the next Altantic City, bought 1,500 acres along the coast and formed a local land syndicate called the West Coast Land & Water Co. He developed 40 acres of the land and named it Pacific City.
To create access to the new area, Stanton made a deal with railroad magnate and real estate developer Henry Huntington, who owned the inter-urban electric Los Angeles Railway. In exchange for extending railroad service to Pacific City, Stanton sold Huntington shares in the company, one-twelfth of all subdivided land lots and one-fifth interest in all oceanfront bluff property. To top it off, Pacific City would be renamed Huntington Beach. Huntington agreed, and the town was renamed in 1904.
Along with its desirable coastal location, the city is also well situated for residents who commute to Irvine, Santa Ana and Long Beach, which lies about 15 miles north.
There is a local oil industry in Huntington Beach, but oil resources here have been largely depleted and much of the city's commercial revenue is now generated by tourism and outdoor events. In addition to surf competitions, numerous other events -- biathlons, kite festivals, professional volleyball matches and the X Games -- are regularly held here. And although there are plenty of surfers in town, boating and golfing are also big attractions among residents.
Because of its location, real estate prices in Huntington Beach have continued to rise steadily for the last several years. The median price for a single-family home rose from $395,000 in 2002 to $672,000 in March 2007, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Huntington Beach has several distinctive neighborhoods in a variety of price ranges. At the high end, Huntington Harbour, a group of islands inside the Sunset Beach strip just west of Pacific Coast Highway, is known for its boating lifestyle. Waterfront properties on the islands, many of which have boat docking privileges, are a mixture of older estates and new construction and range in price from $2 million to $6 million.
Development properties in the Seacliff area, near the Seacliff Country Club, attract golfers and range in price from $1 million to $2.5 million. Condominiums here sell in the $850,000 range.
Downtown, small lots offer a mixture of charming old beach cottages in the $800,000 range as well as redone, expanded homes in the $2 million to $3 million range. There are also many condos, starting at about $500,000 for one-bedrooms, and apartments, which appeal to singles and small families.
Lake Park, an older, inland neighborhood, contains larger lots with homes in the 3,500-square-foot range, costing between $2 million and $3 million.
