If you’re looking to buy a house in the coming years, do your homework first. Forbes has put out their list of the 5 worst neighborhoods for home appreciation in the Orange County area. These are the cities where home values in Orange County are dropping.
If you own a house in one of these areas you can at least know that it won’t improve substantially any time soon. Or be glad if you were looking to buy in one of these areas as they are trending down!
With appreciation rates across the country fairly stable, 24/7 Wall St. examined which neighborhoods are seeing the most growth — and which are seeing the least. The real estate blog considered factors including appreciation rates, change in home values and population trends to create this list of Best and Worst Neighborhoods for Home Appreciation in Orange County 2021.
Here are the 5 neighborhoods with the lowest home appreciation in Orange County:
Santa Ana
Santa Ana is the second largest city in Orange County, and one of the most densely populated cities in the country. The city is home to those who work at Disneyland and the surrounding theme parks, but it also has a significant homeless population.
The median home price in Santa Ana is $660,000, which is a dramatic change from $270,000 in 2012. While the value of homes in Santa Ana have increased steadily over time, the appreciation rate has been around 2% for the past five years.
Anaheim
Anaheim is most famous for being home to Disneyland, but it is also home to other theme parks such as Knott’s Berry Farm. It’s nicknamed “The City of Kindness” and it’s one of the most affordable cities to live in Orange County.
The median home price in Anaheim is $705,000. While this may seem like a lot compared to other counties across the U.S., consider that prices were $265,000 in 2012! Similar to Santa Ana, the appreciation rate has been steady at around 2% over the past five years. Home values in Orange County continue to drop, making Anaheim a city now looked upon as a bad area.
Westminster
Westminster was actually known as Tri-City back in the 1950s because it incorporated. It is also experiencing a decline in home prices, with a -0.6% appreciation rate. Compare that to the rest of California, where prices are up 4.8% over the past year.
Fullerton
Redfin ranks Fullerton among the top 10 hottest markets in the country right now thanks to its relatively low real estate prices and proximity to some of Southern California’s most popular cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Anaheim. The lack of available inventory has led to bidding wars and homes selling above list price.
The median sale price in Fullerton rose more than 11% to $795,000 between March 2020 and March 2021. But there were areas where appreciation was much lower or even negative, according to Redfin.
Huntington Beach
Also known as Surf City U.S.A., Huntington Beach is a city on the coast with a population of over 200,000 people. It’s one of California’s most popular beach towns and it hosts the U.S. Open of Surfing every year.
Huntington Beach homes are a bit more affordable than the median price in Orange County, but they’re still expensive. The median home value is $865,000. While this is fairly high, it’s much lower than the county average of $906,500. That said, homes here have been declining in value over the past year and are expected to continue to fall for at least another year.
The neighborhoods on this list had some of the lowest appreciation rates in Orange County over the past year, and many of them have a consistent track record of under-performing the rest of the county.
If you’re wondering what city has the best home values in Orange County, we can give you a head start: it’s Irvine. Irvine is the clear winner from our research, with above average home values, temperatures, and crime rates, while also having very low property taxes.
If you’re looking to move to Orange County, Irvine seems like a no-brainer. And it has many of the benefits of living in a smaller town without all the disadvantages of being far from major cities or natural landmarks. Plus, the weather is arguably one of the best around!