An open house for 120 S. Bayfront in Newport Beach attracted several serious prospects and one offer—which resulted in the home’s cash sale for $5.9 million.
The waterfront property originally was listed for about $6.2 million and was on the market less than two weeks.
“We only had the one offer, but it was a solid offer,” said Keith Randle, an agent with Coldwell Banker Previews International’s Newport Beach office.
Randle represented the seller, who lives in Colorado. Steve Morton, an agent with Re/Max Premier Realty, represented the buyer, a local couple who own another home in Orange County.
Much of the appeal of the home for the buyer was the dock, which is large enough for a 60-foot boat, Randle said.
“They primarily bought it as a place to put their yacht,” he said.
Randle held an open house one weekend to accommodate about eight interested buyers, including one from Texas.
“It was very busy with real buyers,” he said. “It wasn’t just people walking down the boardwalk in front of the house.”
The two-story Craftsman-style home, built in 1986, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It has a sunset view and looks out at the islands of Lido, Bay, Harbor and Collins.
Pricey Listing
The 3.6-acre gated Crean estate, overlooking the Back Bay in Newport Beach, is on the market for $19.8 million.
Andrea “Duffy” Routh, an agent with Fountain Valley-based Star Real Estate, is the listing agent for the estate at 2300 Mesa Drive.
John Crean, philanthropist and founder of RV maker Fleetwood Enterprises, lived at The Village Crean with his wife, Donna Crean. Crean died in 2007, and his wife passed away in July of this year.
The 15,000-square-foot, three-story main house has an elevator, 10 guest suites, and a 2,500-square-foot apartment where the Creans lived. The home has 18 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms.
An open house was slated for Dec. 14.
Sales Up
No need to wait until the end of the year to know that sales for homes priced $4 million and up have surpassed 2011 sales.
That happened by the end of September, according to Redfin.com.
Through Dec. 10, 144 homes have been sold. In 2011, 102 homes were sold.
With just a couple of weeks left in December, August is all but certain to be the best sales month of the year, with 23 sales.
June, July and October each had 15 sales. There were 14 in September, 13 in May, 12 in November and 11 in March, while February and April each had nine sales, and January saw six.
As of Dec. 10, two sales had been posted for this month:
• 22 Tide Watch in Newport Coast sold for $5.7 million, down from $5.9 million when it was listed at the end of November. Rob Smith, an agent with Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc., represented the seller. Ron Millar, an agent with Newport Beach-based HÔM Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the buyer.
The 6,200-square-foot home in the Crystal Cove neighborhood sits on a 32,000-square-foot corner lot.
• 12 Ritz Cove Drive in Dana Point sold for $9.6 million. Its most recent list price was $11.9 million in October and has been listed on and off since 2010. John Stanaland, an agent with HÔM Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the seller. Joan Wilson, an agent with Mission Viejo-based Regency Real Estate Brokers Inc., represented the buyer.
The 8,900-square-foot home in the gated Ritz Cove neighborhood has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
Almost 200
This year will finish out with almost 200 homes priced for sale at $4 million and up, according to Redfin.com.
The number of days on the market for the homes ranged from six to 1,009, or almost three years through early December.
The housing market has improved overall, but home prices and the number of days a home spends on the market can vary significantly by city and neighborhood, according to Ladera Ranch-based Reports on Housing.
It takes 35 days on average to sell a home in Orange County. But it takes 3.6 months to sell a home in Dana Point.
It takes about four months in Laguna Beach. Homes in Newport Beach spend slightly less time on the market, 3.2 months, than Newport Coast, 3.7 months.
