In this article we report on the prices for completed sales of residential real estate for Seal Beach—College Park East, College Park West, Leisure World, Old Town, and the rest of Seal Beach—Los Alamitos, and Rossmoor. Here we present a comparison of sales during June 2010 and June 2009.

College Park East
The average total selling price of CPE homes in June 2010 was lower than last year and lower than last month. But that’s because the houses sold this June were smaller homes. The average selling price per square foot (sf) actually increased 38% in June 2010 over June last year. Last June the average selling price/SF was unusually low at, $256.76. This June, the average sf price bounced back up to $354.65.

The total average selling price for this June sales was $719,333, verses $746,612 one year ago. In May 2010, the average total selling price was $753,000, or $316.87 per sf. Last May, the average per sf selling price was $391.67.

Even though the lot sizes are essentially the same, the three homes sold this June in CPE represent a wide spectrum of house sizes and the resultant selling price per sf. The smallest home, located at 4708 Elder Ave has only 1,494 sf. This is about one half the size of the largest CPE home sold, which has 2,822 sf and is located at 4281 Birchwood Ave.

With a selling price of $650,000, the Elder home went for 435.07 per sf. The total selling price for the Birchwood property was $841,000—a price premium of only 29% for almost twice as much home. The per sf selling price for this house was $298.02.

College Park West
The money does not buy as many square feet in CPW, but the prices per sf fell in June compared to one year ago. The average total selling price this year for CPW was $562,500, compared to $615,000 one year ago.

The two homes sold this June in CPW (152 Stanford Ln and 309 College Park Dr) are about the same size. The Stanford home has four bedrooms, verses three, but the Stanford house also sits on a lot, which at 5800 sf, is about 10% larger then the College Park Dr lot. The Stanford home sold for $570,000 ($370.37 per sf) and the College Park Dr. property went for $555,000 ($408.69 per sf).

Leisure World
Both the total average selling price and the per sf selling price for Leisure World increased modestly from last June. The June 2010 average total selling price was $131,765, up 4% from one year ago. The per sf price was $149.65, an increase of 5% from last year.

Old Town
There were two June sales in Old Town this year. A very small property—at 316 Marina Dr—sold for only $469,000. But, with only one bedroom and a total of 460 sf, the selling price per sf was a stunning $1,019.57.

The other Old Town sale was 393 Galleon Way. This home has three bedrooms and a total of 1,707 sf. It sold for $811,000, or a more reasonable per sf price of $475.10.

Other Seal Beach
For the rest of Seal Beach, the average total selling price for this June shot up to $1,012,500, an increase of $287,500, or 40%, compared to one year ago. But, on average, these are larger homes. The smallest property, at 830 Driftwood Ave, has only 1,363 sf. This home sold for $770,000, or 564.93 per sf.

On the other end of the size spectrum was the home at 245 Surf Pl. This five bedroom property has 3,200 sf and sold for a total of $1,200,000 and a per sf price of 375. The average per sf selling price for the four June transactions was $437.99, an increase of 10% over last June.

Los Alamitos
Although the total average selling price in Los Alamitos fell by 14% year over year, the price per sf actually increased by 8%. This June the average selling price was $722,600, down $113,400 from the $836,000 garnered in the June 2009 sales. But, the price per sf this year was $342.22, compared to $315.69 from one year ago.

The smallest home sold this year was located at 12081 Reagan St and sold for $725,000. This three bedroom house has 1566 sf and sold for $462.96 per sf.

By way of contrast, the largest Los Alamitos property sold this June is at 3811 Holden Cir and sold for $800,000. This four bedroom home has 3,023 sf and went for only 264.64 per sf.

Thus, for only an additional $75,000, the buyers of the Holden property increased their square footage by 1,457 feet. That’s a rate of $51.48 per sf, well below construction costs.

Rossmoor
After falling 7% in May, total average selling prices shot up in Rossmoor by 25% in June. But, it is all in the house sizes. Of the nine Rossmoor homes sold in June, only one was less than 2,000 sf. In fact, the average of these nine homes was 3,075 sf.

Thus, the total June average selling price was $1,054,166, verses $842,333 last year. But, on a per sf basis, the average selling price fell from $361.28 in June 2009, to $350.89 this year.

Interestingly, the house with the lowest per sf selling price, located at 3351 Donnie Ann Rd, was not the largest house changing hands. The Donnie Ann property, still a larger home with six bedrooms and 3,500 sf, sold for $1,100,000, or $314.29 per sf.

The largest house which sold this June is the property at 3342 Wimbleton Dr. this five bedroom house has a grand total of 5,100 sf, and sold for $1,655,000. That amounts to $324.51 per sf. With a lot size of 10,703 sf, This home is also on one of the largest lots in Rossmoor, or anywhere in West OC. Most of the lots in Rossmoor are below 8,000 sf.

The smallest home in Rossmoor sold this June is located at 11362 Wallingsford Rd. This four bedroom home has 1,673 sf and sold for a total price of $700,000, or $418.41 Per sf.

All of the data in this article was supplied by Glenn Gaspar, REALTOR® with First American Team Realty, Inc.

Return to www.OC180NEWS.com next Monday for our continuing biweekly series on countywide residential real estate supply and demand trends.