Home prices moving on up

Mary A. Castillo

Laguna Beach now has the added distinction of having the highest

median sales price in all of Orange County.

According to statistics for the month of June culled by Dataquick

Information Systems, the median sales price for a home in Laguna

Beach is $910,000, up 20.5% from last year. Newport Beach weighed in

at $795,000 followed by Villa Park at $790,000 and Corona Del Mar at

$755,500.

In spite of hefty prices the Laguna real estate market is quite

healthy, said Gayle Waite, president of the Laguna Board of Realtors

and a realtor with Coldwell Banker.

“It’s a very active market because of high demand and low

inventory,” she said. “There’s also a direct relation to lower

interest rates that allow people to buy more expensive homes.”

Waite has seen very aggressive bidding for homes in the under $1

million category.

“If the property is appropriately priced for its location,

condition, size and view it will sell within 30 days,” she said.

Serious buyers who can not only afford it but are doggedly

determined to live within the city’s 9.1 square miles get over the

shock pretty quickly, Waite said. She recently worked with a Utah

couple who sold two of their homes to purchase a fixer upper because

they wanted to live as close to the ocean as possible.

However, Laguna is a tough market for first-time buyers who may

not qualify for the lower interest rates.

“It was very frustrating at first to see small homes or tear downs

and the prices attached to them,” said Ludovic Bainvel, 32, a North

Laguna resident who has rented his two-bedroom apartment since

October 1998. A native of the Brittany region of France, he attended

Laguna College of Art and Design and works as an art director at Fuse

Interactive on Laguna Canyon Road.

“I wish I had taken the risk and bought a home four years ago,” he

said. “I truly fell in love with the village feel here. It’s the

perfect balance of American conveniences and the European way of life

where everything you need is accessible.”

Bainvel points to a fixer upper behind his apartment building that

was on the market for $800,000.

“I fear that the prices will turn Laguna into another Beverly

Hills,” he said.

“The cheapest home I’ve seen was a $500,000 one-bedroom tear

down,” said Ellie Hawkins, an independent realtor. “A lot of buyers

are taking older homes and tearing them down. Mansionization has

become a fact of life.”

The majority of her clients are moving from the inland communities

after making healthy profits from home sales. With low interest rates

that allow them to qualify for greater amounts of money and a limited

inventory, she doesn’t foresee a downturn in the market any time

soon.

“Laguna has always been my home,” Hawkins said. “I truly feel

sorry for people trying to get in here on a shoe string budget.”