Looking back at the Huntington Beach real estate market in 2016 one can see that it was a great year for HB! Not only was the Huntington Beach market one of the strongest markets in the entire country, it also rose in popularity as well. With Pacific City expanding, and getting a lot more buzz around it, I think this was a major factor in why Huntington Beach out performed other coastal cities in Orange County.
Even though Huntington Beach real estate had the best appreciation this year – it is still the most affordable beach city in Orange County; but not for long. Pacific City has really added a class to the city that was desperately lacking. Now people view Huntington Beach as a “Luxury City” rather than just “Surf City”. Below are some of the stats in the housing market along with my future predictions.
Median Sales Price
As you can see from the graph, the Average home price went from $675,000 in December 2015 to $702,500 in December 2016. This is a 4 percent increase year over year. At its peak however, we saw a near 7% rise. Which is an outstanding appreciation.
Price Per Square Foot
Here is where we really start to see the rise in value in the Huntington Beach market. December 2015 the average price per square foot for a Huntington Beach Home was $427. Today (December 2016) the average price per square foot is $456. This is nearly a 7% increase year over year.
I know what you’re thinking, “why did the Median Sales Price drop off after summer yet price per square foot continued to climb?” The reason for this is Huntington Beach is such a unique city in the fact that it has $5,000,000 homes selling around the Huntington Harbor & SeaCliff areas and then it has $600,000 homes selling in north central Huntington area. What happened was the luxury estates in SeaCliff and the Harbor sold in the summer, this increases the median price, while the less expensive homes went on the market and sold during fall and winter which brought down the average price. However, the least expensive homes were still selling for a higher price per square foot than ever before. The best way to judge value would be by the price per square foot and not the median. Which means sellers got 7% more for their home this year then the year before. Outstanding appreciation.
Looking Forward:
Looking forward for to the 2017 Huntington Beach market, I think we will see a rise in values once again. Pacific City is for real and here to stay! It is pushing prices up all across the board especially in the Downtown area of HB. We have clients who have sold their $5,000,0000 Newport Beach homes and moved to Downtown Huntington or SeaCliff for around $1,800,000. They pocketed over $3,000,000 and had no lifestyle change. Both Newport locals and those with money view Pacific City as the new Fashion Island and want to get in around it before it’s too late.
Conclusion:
2016 proved to the world that Huntington Beach real estate is on the rise. Pacific City has changed the tune of the whole city and how people view Huntington Beach. It is a great time to be a home owner in Huntington Beach and if you are thinking about moving to HB now is the perfect time. It does not matter if you are thinking of buying a Huntington Beach condo that is currently for sale or an oceanfront mansion in Huntington Beach I see the HB real estate market continuing to rise and out performing other Orange County beach cities for the next 5-7 years. Huntington Beach is currently under valued and people are becoming more aware of this fact. Thanks for reading!
Written by Malakai Sparks who is the owner and principle of The Malakai Sparks Group of Keller Williams Realty.
