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Irvine condo’s price plunges 50% in three years
November 12th, 2009, 5:00 am · 80 Comments · posted by Erika Chavez, Staff Writer
This was once a million-dollar view.
The Marquee Park Place had a lofty beginning when it opened its doors in 2006. Irvine’s first high rise sold out quickly, and individual condos went for premium prices.
But fast-forward several years and… things have changed, to say the least.
Case in point: this 2-bedroom condo which just closed escrow on October 24, according to Redfin. The bank-owned unit sold for $500,000, or $329 per square foot. Just before that, it went back to the bank in August for $442,000. Seems reasonable, right?
Then I spotted this condo’s previous sale price, in April 2006: a cool $1 million.
That’s right, a 50% price drop in 3.5 years.
That can’t bode well for the 11 other condos currently listed for sale in the same high-rise…
What do you think? Have prices bottomed in this particular high rise, or are they destined to come crashing down further? Share your prognostications and predictions in the comments…
Related links:
Dozens of condos for sale in pioneering Irvine high rise
High rise developer takes plunge with rooftop pool
Luxury high-rise project resurrected
Surf City home listed for half of ‘06 sale
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As long as unployment persists, the home’s prices will keep falling, you will not see the bottom until jobs return and confidents restore.
Haha, these are known as the “North Korea Towers” on IHB and other blogs. The HOA is INSANE for these towers…the sensible price on these would be in the 200’s depending on size.
I’ve been watching with keen interest as these towers represent the worst of the housing bubble (economically….physically, they’re beautiful inside and out).
You’re right Grag, the HOA’s are UNREAL! That place is OVER PRICED at $500k. I couldn’t believe the prices they were asking back in 2007. The builders hired Lee Ann Canaday to find some suckers to buy the vacant units and she did… Seriously, that 2 bedroom is worth 350k+. At $500k, you paid way too much.
just curious, how’d they get the name?
They got the name because when you drive by the towers at night there are only a couple lights on here and there. The same that is seen if looking down on N. Korea at night from space. Other countries such as Japan or S. Korea are all brightly lite up then there is a mass of darkness where N. Korea would be - no lights on.
they got the name because, when you drove by at night, most of the lights were off…it resembled the darkened “north korea tower” in that country (an unfinished, massive hotel structure).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugyong_Hotel
i’m sure there are more lights now…but I remember driving by a good year after the building opened and there were very few lights on.
that, and the marquee towers were big/expensive money pits for the initial buyers whose dream didn’t come to fruition (like that hotel above).
http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/michelson-towers-airport-area-irvine/
bpsqwerty — seems as my first post is still in moderation (since i linked a wiki URL). here’s the post w/out the link:
they got the name because, when you drove by at night, most of the lights were off…it resembled the darkened “north korea tower” in that country (an unfinished, massive hotel structure).
[link redacted -- google "Ryugyong Hotel" and look at the wikipedia page]
i’m sure there are more lights now…but I remember driving by a good year after the building opened and there were very few lights on.
that, and the marquee towers were big/expensive money pits for the initial buyers whose dream didn’t come to fruition (like that hotel above).
Beautiful inside and out? Where are living now… ‘La Fiesta” towers?
They are worth that or less. Only an idiot would pay one million for them. Perhaps people are waking up, after all.
I’ve also been following these condos. They are really nice inside yet the price was way way inflated. As for the HOAs holy s*&%!!!! I’ll keep looking.
That’s what they get, serves ‘em right, GREEDY BASS-TURDS.
Our economy is in this shape because of greed.
We need to start over and stop goughing each other.
Theater, Sporting Events, New Cars, and Homes all are overpriced.
You don’t believe me? Then how do you explain Billion Dollar Profits and Executive Salaries & Bonuses in the Millions.
The upside is that they are quite a ways up in the air so you can jump and end it all from your condo if it continues to depreciate. I can jump out the window of my ranch style house in south OC but I will only fall a few feet.
$1,200 a month for HOA. No wonder prices dropped like a rock.
For what the banks have done to this country the homes should be given away for almost nothing, the one’s across the freeway called Central Park West have fallen very sharply too and I hear the facility won’t be opening until late 2010 or 2011. The Tower on the same land was reportd to have million dollar condo’s in them too but I’d heard complaint’s about the views.
I’ve also lost a lot on my unit, but these were never, or ever should be, priced at $1 million….if you have that much money to “burn”, give it to charity!!
I completely agree with John, as long as unemployment stays high home prices will keep falling. How are people going to buy a home or anything for that matter (only essentials) when there are limited job openings.
you couldn’t pay me $1 million to live in Irvine.
You don’t sound very smart.
I would gladly live in Irvine if someone paid ME $1 million.
But, worry not. No one will be paying you $1 million for anything, I suspect.
These “condo” in this article is just two towers building at western end of Irvine. The really condo price in Irvine is actually raising in past 6 month.
NY style luxury condo with $1,000 HOA should be in separate category than normal condo in Irvine.
Irresponsible reporting, not at all representative. Must be a renter or lives with parents.
Irvine is safe and boring. It’s not like Newport Beach. Why would anyone pay $1M without the ocean view?
My friend’s condo in Pasadena, CA has risen about $90,000 in value since last being appraised about three years ago. No upgrades have been done in the interim.
I suppose one could argue that some housing trends are localized.
Anything close to public transportation is going up. The Gold Line extension is helping Pasadena.
That’s commie-pinko talk. No one in freedom-lovin’ OC supports public transportation. You know that.
numbnut…
Actually, Irvine has pretty good buses and bike lanes, and that has saved it — compare to auto-dependaant Victorville. There are also alot of jobs in the city, plus they want a light rail. Real public transportation is the only thing missing from this “urban” condo tower.
200’s? I will take ten and with a 4.75% rate, I will make a great return on cash flow. Real worth more like low 400’s because of the HOA.
these prices will deffinately come down further. these condos will probably hit 200k
Somenone’s loss is someone elses gain. How many are still avialable?
No worries, Charlie. There are as many as you can afford (x $1,200/month HOA).
When unemployment hits 11% nationally, banks will begin to start hemorrhaging because of these very defaults on loans, which will bring these hideous prices down precipitously. Thusly bringing the other dwellers of these condos to default as they will owe way way more than they are worth
Why would someone pay $1k+ for HOA? No wonder most of the lights are out when you drive by at night. They’re primarily owned by speculators who got burned…
I remember when they were a million right at the end of the housing bubble. that was always good for a laugh. if the HOA is that sky high (no pun intended), why are the prices still $500,000? you’d think that the HOA, plus the market conditions would have them going around $350K tops.
but hey, maybe that’s “list” price… let’s see actual sales (if there are any!)
Here is part of the problem with these…HOA’s are $1,200 per month and for that you get a guy at the door and at the gate and a pool…so not much. The guy who bought this place has the same mortgage payment as a guy who purchase a home for $700,000 and is paying $96 per month for home owner’s insurance.
In other words, the payment on an additional $200,000 worth of financing for a much better property is $1,104.00 per month at 5.25%.
Plus your HOA dues aren’t tax deductible and depending on your tax bracket you could buy a place for $750,000 and have the same net payments per month as this guy who paid $500,000.
I would rather buy an SFR for $750k than a condo for $500k…bad economics…period.
Wow… a genius… a bet you have a monopoly on righteus thinking…
So much for “A Planned Community!”
THere is still one more wave that is going to hit the housing market, there are quite a few option arms that will be adjusting in the very near future and the other hammer will be the amount of properties that are on backlog of the foreclosure process, a few banks requested that they be allowed to conduct and complete foreclosures on what they currently had on the books, regulators allowed them to but the overall majority of banks held off the foreclosure proceeding until now, now the time is up and now they are beginning the foreclosure process once again, so the housing market is going to get one more huge hit before it gets rolling and back on track.
Unfortunately, now that the Governor signed SB 94 into law, you can expect another wave of foreclosures which will further dilute the market with plenty of cheap REO properties. The market hasn’t hit bottom by any stretch and by signing this bill, the Governor guaranteed a further decimation of the state’s property tax base.
500K for a two bedroom???????????????????????
WTF are these people insane.
Can’t wait till they are in the high 200K maybe.
not even worth high 200K. should be in the 100K range. common now, it’s a 2 bedroom condo.
It’s meant to keep riff raff like you out of our beautiful urban paradise…
even 500k for a condo is just rediculous
In the hood… maybe… you could not pay me to live where you live… I pay a lot to live in Irvine…
Irvine Rocks… the rest of you are all jealus losers… even the newport coast wannabes… HA!!
A 50% price drop means they were 100% overpriced to begin with. Who’d want to live in what looks like an office complex?
nobody who lives in the ghetto apparently…
At least some of these appear to be occupied. The same can’t be said for a similar venture in South Coast Metro. I’ve never seen a single light on in either of those two buildings.
These high rises will stand as a constant reminder of what brought us to this point in the economy.
Those are being held by the developer I believe…so yeah, no one lives there (explains the lack of lights).
Irvine is getting way too crowded. All the streets and freeway are clogged with traffic. If they are going to build more, they need to do something about the traffic first. That’s the price you pay for a condo in Irvine, the safest city in America.
Can’t wait to see what happens to all the units that were built right by the Irvine Specturm - when you drive South on the 405 they are off to the left. Those things are gonna ROT just like the abundance of places right by Anaheim Stadium. A friend was looking at renting a place there but they wanted $1,600 - he would only pay $1,300 tops and they wouldn’t or couldn’t budge. So now those places with close to 50% vacancies sit to rot and collect NO rent
No… people who can afford those places will move in.. and they won’t be coming from Anaheim..
Who wants to pay $500K to live in a place where the only views are of parking garages and office complexes???? That’s insane! For $325K, you can buy a 1,260 sq. ft. condo on Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach and get city AND ocean views!! Yeah, I know, it’s Long Beach vs. Irvine, but Long Beach has tons more cultural venues than Irvine ~ restaurants, live/performing arts theaters, museums, etc. ~ and a lot of that is w/i walking distance from that condo…………..
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/700-E-Ocean-Blvd-Unit-1208_Long-Beach_CA_90802_1111559523?gate=msn&source=a2mszh1t042
I agree with you about the price, but Long Beach has TOO much culture. No matter where you go, you’re ALWAYS faced with transients. They’ve overrun city hall. That are is just too ghetto, but very light in the urban amenities, compared to San Francisco, etc. All the trouble, few of the benefits.
I used to work next door and felt sorry for the people who spent $1 Million and then had to listen to construction ~ nonstop ~ for two more years.
Still overpriced by 50% if selling for $500K.
whoa! I think i’ll buy 2 of them!
There are a few more reasons for the price decline at this project. Currently - there is litigation, over 20% HOA delinquency, and nearly a 50% non-owner occupied rate.
No lender will finance a sale or refinance making the buyers pay ALL CASH for any sale.
WTF is w/you, OCR???? I posted a completely benign post around 4:44pm today regarding your article and it’s obviously been pulled!!! What is your problem??? What kind of newspaper silences their readers’ innocuous posts for no good reason at all???? To be perfectly honest w/you, I’m tired of the OCR and how you incompetently run this publication!!!!!!!! Say what you will about the LA Times, at least they run don’t silence their readers’ posts for the slightest disagreement.
A quick note, from the “About this blog” page linked at the bottom:
My daughter’s soccer team had its end-of-season party tonight; that’s why I wasn’t able to approve your first comment until just now. Keep the name-calling to a minimum (yes, I saw the other angry comments you tried to post) and your comments will post automatically in the future.:-)
Thank you for being so polite and patient with these new folks, Erika!
The price should be what the market will pay. Most likely the price will drop even further since those units may have an unsustainable maintenance or association monthly payment. Although interest rates for financing $450K may be $2.5K a month or so, the maintenance/association fee would almost double the monthly payment, so who would be willing to pay a fee that is almost equal to a mortgage? Those young 20 and 30 something trendy folks just about disappeared with the crash of the subprime mortgage business. No one left to blow cash on trendy but impractical digs.
The state should buy them and convert them into additional prison beds or maybe illegal alien detention centers. Hey, i’m just sayin’.
anyone who bought one of these is quite the fool Who pays $1200
for HOA’s…..in Irvine……..next to JWA?
LMFAO
The people who paid 1/2-mil are gonna feel pretty silly when these slums are priced in the $1’s.
oh…and Erika….we are **NOT INTERESTED** in your daughter’s soccer party. Try to be professional. INAPPROPRIATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All caps and exclamation marks are appropriate?
If building “Up” is a way to reduce the footprint of urban sprawl, that sounds good to me. Imagine if those hundreds of units were homes… spreading out into the foothills.
u is a bunch of angry folk…
I always wondered who would pay that kind of money to live in that area with so few amenities. the airport, office buildings, freeway. nice view… and HOA of 1200 a month. Really? who’s kidding who?
What, some idiot paid a half million bucks for a freaking condo in Irvine??
With a view of what, the 405 fwy. Yea, that makes sense…….. another 50% off and I’ll believe the market is normal again.
These are the type of condos “Housewife of Stupidos” would purchase!!
The value here is rental income only… is, say, it can rent at $1,800/month and the value is ROI capped at 6% minimum, the value would be $360K… but we must discount by the HOA of $1,200/month, so the actual value is $120K. At that price on a 5% mortgage, with 1% of value RE taxes, 1/2% insurance and 1/2% upkeep, then the owner would ONLY lose $100/month + the loan amortization of $200/month at a rental of $1,800 and no vacancies.
I would suggest to give yourself some breathing room to cap at 9% or an actual value of $80,000.
We are maybe half-way into this housing mess and the second half will be worst. Prices will crash. I would guess at least half the price of current listing price.
I live in one of those condos you people are badmouthing. Only paid $845000 not one million, haven’t made a payment for six months. There is a vacant one next door and we made a key. Rent it out to a couple of low lifers. They know the score and are very careful. Dark curtains at night, keep the noise down etc. Just because you don’t see lights on doesn’t mean nobody is home. As banks neglect their holdings entrepreneurs like us will take over. What can they do, through you out. Better be the cops that come or they might end up doing a swan dive from high elevation.
Ordinarily I would find what you are doing totally unacceptable.. but in the current reality you are offering a service and keeping the lights on if not seen (although I wonder how your ‘tenants’ can get a power bill considering they technically do not occupy the space). And you are getting a family off the streets… sure you are pocketing some green on the way by, but you were taken to the cleaners in that building so you have to make the best of a very bad situation.
My hat’s off to you.
We’re about halfway, in time and dollar value, through the mortgage resets driving the residential real estate crash. The last of the subprime and ARM mortgages reset in mid 2012. And many homes in default are not being foreclosed on by the banks, so there is already a record backlog of REOs and soon to be REOs. And the commercial real estate crash is just beginning.
I suspect that the price of houses and condos will get down to about 10% of the peak price, when expressed in ounces of gold or silver.
If you want to buy a house, free and clear, buy and set aside 500 to 1000 ounces of silver, and wait 5 years.
May be OK for NYC …for Irvine ? No Thanks.
I always wonder about those high rises. The article is informative but I do find some of the comments are a bit cruel — one mustn’t rub salt to the wound. These homeowners have already lost $$$$$$, and, with the housing and job markets continue to plumpet. I am afraid the road to recover is no where near.
Having said that, the current listing prices are undoubtedly enticing. For a great looking piece of property, conveniently located in the heart of Orange County, sunny-all-year-round kind of weather, it can’t be too shabby! Not to mention Irvine was voted one of the safest cities in America.
Umm … only if I could afford one … One can always hope!
hey queenie they’re not that great. unless you like living in a parking lot which is what that piece of property they were built on and still is.