The Newport Beach real estate market is currently showing mixed signs, but is one of the riskiest housing markets in the country. According to a May 12, 2010 article in the Orange County Register, “New National Association of Realtor home price data for metropolitan areas shows an Orange County house costing 2.93 times what the median-priced American home sold in the first quarter. That’s no bargain, despite a horrific drop in local home prices: Last time this so-called ‘Orange premium’ was this high was 2008 as the market was toppling.” The piece by Jon Lasner continued to say that “Curiously, this ‘Orange premium’ in this downturn did not hit the lows seen in the mid-1990s real estate recession. The index bottomed at pricing of 2.38 American homes for my ‘Orange premium.’ The recent upswing in the ‘Orange premium’ could mean that the emerging firmness in local house pricing may be ahead of the overall economics.”

The average price of a Newport Beach home for sale, along with Orange County in general, rallied in the month of March, according to an April 22, 2010 article in the Orange County Business Journal. This piece found that “The median price of an existing Orange County home rose by more than $10,000 in March from February, spurred in large part by low mortgage rates and generally affordable prices, the California Association of Realtors said on Thursday.” The piece, written by Mark Mueller, continued to say that “The median price for an existing stand-alone OC home sold in March was $493,120, a 2% increase from February, and a nearly 11% increase from a year ago. The number of sales here in March jumped 39% from a month ago, and was up about 15% from a year ago, the Realtor association said.”

This good news for Newport Beach real estate, however, still does not alleviate the huge risk involved in the Orange County real estate market. According to a May 2, 2010 article in the OC Metro, “Orange County’s housing market is among the riskiest in the nation, according to a new study from Walnut Creek-based PMI Group.”