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The Costa Mesa real estate market, found in the midst of the larger Orange County, California housing market, saw a decrease in the median sales price along with a relatively tepid pace of home sales. According to figures compiled by the Orange County Business Journal, the month of November saw the average price of a pre-existing Orange County home break the half million dollar mark. The California Association of Realtors found that the median figure was $502,170, marking an increase of slightly less than three percent compared to the month of October, and an increase of less than one percent compared to the same time last year. Although this number is just less than twenty percent above the lowest point of the market in January 2009, it is approximately one-third less than the numbers seen when the market was at its strongest point in April 2007. A report by Canada’s MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates which took condominiums as well as single family homes into consideration found that the median price was closer to $435,000, marking a marginal year-over-year increase and a slight decrease from October 2010.
Relative to the rest of California, Costa Mesa homes for sale posted much stronger figures along with the Orange County. According to a report from the Orange County Register, the median selling price for the entirety of California was $296,820, a decrease of two and a half percent from November 2009 levels. For the whole Golden State, sales activity was off by almost nine percent, meaning that there significantly fewer homes sold compared to the same time next year. The number of sales in Orange County decreased by about four percent relative to last month, but the figure was a fall of more than fourteen percent compared to November of 2010. This general weakness may be a result of the expiration of the federal housing tax credit. Basically, the distribution of stimulus money in order to encourage higher homes sales may have sapped sellers from later in the year and encouraged them to invest in real estate during the summer months when the credit was available.
