The Costa Mesa real estate market, a subsidiary of the much larger Orange County housing market, continued to have issues with high rates of foreclosure despite relatively stable median home prices. According to a June 7, 2010 article from the Orange County Register, “According to CoreLogic’s latest late-mortgage report, 8.40% of Orange County home-loan borrowers as of April are 90 days-plus late with their house payments. That’s +2.60 percentage points vs. a year ago.” The piece, composed by Jon Lansner, went on to state that “2.37% of Orange County homes were in the foreclosure process; +0.15 percentage points vs. a year earlier. 0.35% of Orange County homes were repossessed by banks as REO (real estate owned); -0.10 percentage points vs. a year earlier. Orange County 90-day delinquency rate is -3.20 percentage points vs. the state’s slow-pay rate -0.50 percentage points vs. national pace.”

The average sales price of a Costa Mesa home for sale rose along with the rest of the O.C. in the most recent tracking period, according to a June 4, 2010 piece from the Orange County Register. The piece noted that “For the 22 business days ending May 18 – DataQuick’s latest real estate buying report – Orange county saw…$440,000 median selling price that is up 12.8% vs. a year ago yet -32% below June 2007’s peak of $645,000. A median of $440,000 was last seen in Orange County in August 2008.” The article by Jon Lansner went on to state that “The most recent median is 19% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000 – a current bottom that was 43% below the peak. The median selling price of an Orange County single-family home is 30% less than their peak pricing (June ’07) while condos sell 37% below their peak in March 2006.”

About half a month earlier, the average home price for Costa Mesa real estate declined slightly, according to a May 18, 2010 article from the Orange County Business Journal. This piece, written by Mark Mueller, found that “Orange County’s median home price edged down $2,000 in April from March, but still stands $50,000 higher than the prices seen here a year ago.”