Newport Beach home prices still on the rise

Paul Clinton

August home sales showed a continued, solid growth trend in the

city, a statewide real estate trade group reported Wednesday.

The city came in at No. 8 on the top 10 list of areas where annual

August sales prices were tracked by the California Assn. of Realtors,

data provided by the group showed.

Newport Beach’s middle-range price of $772,000 for new and

existing homes and condominiums was behind only seven other

communities. Palos Verdes Estates easily locked in the top spot with

a $1.02 million mid-point price for sales. Beverly Hills, Malibu,

Pacific Palisades and Burlingame rounded out the top five.

Manhattan Beach finished sixth. The quartet of Corte Madera,

Greenbriar, Kentfield and Larkspur in suburbs north of the San

Francisco Bay area was seventh. Newport Beach came in ahead of Palos

Verdes Peninsula and Millbrae to round out the top 10.

“The residential real estate market continued to post impressive

gains in median home prices in nearly every region of the state last

month,” said Robert Bailey, the group’s president.

For Newport Beach, the data showed a 7.4% increase from the same

month a year ago, association spokesman Mark Giberson said.

Local Realtors said they weren’t stunned by the report, adding

that they have seen something of a slowdown among, at least, the

city’s pricier homes.

“It sounds about right, as crazy as that sounds,” said B.J.

Johnson, a real estate agent with Prudential’s Corona del Mar branch.

“That would indicate that the higher-priced homes have slowed down.”

Real Estate Solutions’ MetroScan service collects all records of

new home purchases filed at county registrars all over the state and

supplies the group with the data.

During the report, 305 of 342 California cities and communities

showed an increase in their respective median home process from

August 2001, the group said.

Bailey said the group expects the double-digit gains in real

estate to taper off as home sales typically slow during winter

months.

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes

across the state totaled 562,780 in August. Resales dropped 1.5% from

the 571,070 sales recorded in August 2001.