The Cape Cod-style oceanfront home on a double lot at 35851 Beach Road in Dana Point didn’t sell in an online auction earlier this month.
It had a “buy-it-now” price of $6.9 million, down from $10.5 million in December.
Now it’s set to be auctioned live Nov. 11 with a $5 million reserve, which is the minimum sale price.
“We got a better feeling of the value of the property and decided to move toward the live auction,” said Laura Brady, vice president of marketing for New York-based Concierge Auctions LLC, which is handling the sale.
The auction will take place at the 4,000-square-foot property. Refreshments will be served.
“We try to make it a comfortable, festive atmosphere,” Brady said.
Concierge Auctions will fly in an auctioneer, and the process will be similar to a fine-art auction. Prospective buyers will bid with paddles.
Doug Echelberger, an agent with First Team Real Estate’s San Clemente office, is representing the seller, a businessman who owns another property on Beach Road.
Concierge Auctions will accept registrations until 48 hours prior to the auction.
The average number of bidders Concierge Auctions gets for luxury properties of similar nature is eight, Brady said. The online auction had seven registered bidders at a recent count. It remains to be seen whether or how many online bidders will participate in the live auction.
June Peak
June was the top month for sales of homes at $4 million or more so far this year in Orange County.
June saw 14 sales closed.
May was the second-best month with 13 homes sold. April and September tied for third with 12.
The only other double-digit sale month was August, with 11 sales.
March through August is considered peak home-buying season.
The most expensive homes to sell this year were private listings. One in Irvine sold for $18 million. A Lake Forest property got $16 million.
The third-highest sale was 9 Shell Beach in Newport Coast. The six-bedroom home sold in July for $11.8 million, down from $13 million in March.
Rex McKown, of Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc., represented the buyer and seller.
There currently are 270 homes listed for sale at $4 million and up in Orange County. Of those, 52 are $10 million and higher, and 25 top $15 million.
Race Against Time
It would take a big finish that runs against seasonal trends to avoid the lowest number of deals in the $4 million-and-above category here in the past five years, according to data from Seattle-based Redfin.com, a residential real estate broker.
So far this year, 85 homes in the category have sold at an average of $1,188 price per square foot.
Brokers would need to sell at least 32 more homes to beat 2009, which was the lowest total in the past five years.
In 2009, 116 Orange County homes sold at an average price per square foot of $1,212. The number of homes sold in 2009 matched 2006 at 116. But the pre-recession market of 2006 saw an average price per square foot of $2,397, nearly double 2009.
In 2007, 156 homes sold at an average price per square foot of $1,811. In 2008,
124 homes sold at an average price per square foot of $1,333. Last year, 137 homes sold at an average price per square foot of $1,330.
October Update
October saw the three sales as of Oct. 21.
A five-bedroom home at 15 Shoreridge in the Pelican Crest neighborhood of Newport Coast sold for $4.6 million, down from a $5.4 million asking price in January. It sold for $775 per square foot.
Tina Chen, an agent for Remax in Orange County, represented the seller. Lance Fogel of Keller Williams Realty Inc.’s Newport Beach office represented the buyer.
In September, Fogel represented the buyer in the $5.8 million sale of 56 Shoreridge in the Pelicans to an all-cash backup buyer in a quick escrow. Fogel has said he has other homes in the Pelicans set to close.
The other two closings in October, previously reported here: 942 Emerald Bay, a four-bedroom home in Laguna Beach, sold for $4.1 million, down from $5.5 million in March; and 541 Emerald Bay, a four-bedroom home in Laguna Beach, sold for about $4.4 million, down from $5.9 million in August 2010.
There are a couple of pending closings, one at 42 Pelican Point Drive in Newport Coast. It’s listed by Spyro Kemble of Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc. for $15.8 million. 8 Channel Vista in Newport Coast is listed for $13.5 million by Keller Williams Realty’s Fogel.
