So USC's data goes back to Jan 2008 which I think captures the peak (unless the peak was in 2007).
Here is the data from that time to recovery for Irvine median prices:
Jan-08 580,000
Feb-08 680,000
Mar-08 670,000
Apr-08 600,000
May-08 605,700
Jun-08 592,000
Jul-08 597,500
Aug-08 600,000
Sep-08 593,000
Oct-08 565,000
Nov-08 560,000
Dec-08 597,500
Jan-09 495,000
Feb-09 580,000
Mar-09 540,000
Apr-09 560,000
May-09 562,500
Jun-09 579,900
Jul-09 550,000
Aug-09 585,000
Sep-09 530,000
Oct-09 577,500
Nov-09 552,000
Dec-09 576,000
Jan-10 519,500
Feb-10 529,000
Mar-10 575,000
Apr-10 565,000
May-10 562,500
Jun-10 588,800
Jul-10 567,500
Aug-10 575,000
Sep-10 579,000
Oct-10 513,500
Nov-10 600,000
Dec-10 566,250
Jan-11 560,000
Feb-11 519,000
Mar-11 540,000
Apr-11 525,000
May-11 552,556
Jun-11 545,000
Jul-11 549,000
Aug-11 540,000
Sep-11 500,500
Oct-11 496,000
Nov-11 505,000
Dec-11 542,500
Jan-12 505,000
Feb-12 432,000
Mar-12 511,500
Apr-12 494,000
May-12 564,100
Jun-12 528,500
Jul-12 558,750
Aug-12 562,450
Sep-12 565,000
Oct-12 570,000
Nov-12 580,000
Dec-12 562,500
Jan-13 577,625
Feb-13 625,000
Mar-13 615,000
Apr-13 666,500
May-13 664,000
Jun-13 638,000
Jul-13 659,500
Aug-13 660,000
Sep-13 690,000
Does that look like a about 5-6 years from peak to peak (Feb 08 to Sep 13)? Seems like Irvine beat OC and California's recovery.
What about how much Irvine dropped during this crash?
I know some people will use the extreme high in Feb 08 and the extreme low in Feb 12 but that doesn't account for housing stock, *seasonal* changes, etc... instead I'll use a 6-month rolling median (since someone doesn't like averages).
I compared Feb-08 to Jul-08 since that captures the highest 6 months of the peak (at least within the data available) to the lowest 6 month trough, which is Nov-11 to Apr-12.
Median 6-month High: $602,850
Median 6-month Low: $505,000
Drop: 16%
That to me, was a reflection of my own experience of house hunting in Irvine. Is that more or less accurate than the reality of most people? I guess it depends on the data your are looking at.
I can concede that some homes could have been discounted for more, but I don't think that represents the majority stock of Irvine homes as a whole.
But I could be wrong.