State of Irvine Real Estate 2026

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
irvinehomeowner said:
Is any Mexican city really safe from the cartel?
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No. I did tons of Baja surf trips in the 80s and after one in the early 90s the atmosphere had changed so much I said never again. I also used to go Guad for biz and the buses full of troops everywhere were a stark reminder. Cancun is a destination for all the cocaine smuggling and has had many instances of cartel violence. I will never take my wife to MX.
 
We used to go to Cancun regularly until about 3 years ago….not anymore. It is true the situation has changed. Before the Cartels had a hands off attitude about the resort areas…now they do not feel safe. Cancun, Puerta Vallarta and Playa Carmen are now off limits for us…We went to Cabo last year and that place seems the same but you never know.🤷🏽😢
 
Yeah... so as I thought... that's why beachfront homes in Mexico are only $22k.

Are there any new west coast homes up in Canada for cheap? Momo says Vancouver might have some value homes.
 
We went to Cabo for a bachelor's party weekend in the mid 2000s
.
One of the guys went off with a girl.....and came back with bruises on his face.
The girl took him a few miles away and 2 guys jumped him and took his cash.

Afterwards this group asked if he wanted them to call him a cab because it would be dangerous walking back..

The next night, he picked up an American girl and took her back to the house....
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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zubs said:
We went to a Cabo bachelor's party in the mid 2000s
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One of the guys went off with a girl.....and came back with bruises on his face.
The girl took him a few miles away and 2 guys beat him and robbed him.

Afterwards this group asked if he wanted them to call him a cab because it would be dangerous walking back..
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Bit of honor amongst the thieves..😂😂😂👍🏽
 
So humor me here... does the general populace agree that Irvine is a good place to buy real estate? That used to be argued often in the past but I rarely see it anymore.

The biggest issue now is price (which was also discussed before) but seems like people just accept that Irvine homes are overpriced and there is no need to talk about it.

Or has everyone just moved to r/Irvine?

Has technology and instant information access (Redfin) made forums like TalkIrvine obsolete?

Some recent posts have been about where they are looking and there are recs outside of Irvine but no one is really adamantly telling them they are making a mistake buying in Irvine (which was more common back in the day).

I just find it weird that my time here is spent more on politics (which I get enough already outside) then actual Irvine real estate. Or even better, what type of features are more desire (is that because almost every Irvine new build is box on box?).

I guess everyone has converted to Insta or TikTok and no one has time to discuss things anymore.

As recent as 15 years ago, I felt that although Irvine was more expensive than surrounding cities, it was still a good buy because the delta wasn't that much over equivalent style cities... but now, it seems just too high for starters and even move-up families. But, I think there is still some value finds in resale. A relative of mine recently spent $1.8m on a 3CGW house in HB (not near the beach), so I looked for similar comps in Irvine. I was surprised that there were 2 for $1.9m and $1.95m. Granted they didn't have downstairs BR but to get that downstair BR took me into the $2.25-$2.5m range.

I looked farther out and there were Lake Forest homes and the around the $1.6m range. Would I still recommend Irvine over those for a difference of $300k?

If you're gonna spend $1.8 on HB (and you're not particularly connected to HB), I would probably recommend Irvine. But if your budget is $1.6m, I would go Lake Forest, $300k is a big stretch.

And I still recommend resale over new because of MRs... it's just harder to find exactly what you want in resale due to lower stock and locations.
 
If you feel that Irvine is over priced where people pay more for smaller lots/homes, the same scenario is repeated elsewhere.

In Cerritos area (ABC unified school district) people pay more money for houses zoned for Leal Elementary and Cerritos High School. Homes in Cerritos and Rossmore (Los Alamitos High) is priced higher than Artesia, Lakewood, Norwalk, etc.

Cerritos schools is highly rated but unlike Irvine, we have declining student population and they will close 4 elementary schools including the one that my daughter attends. You won’t have this problem in Irvine.

Out in South Riverside county, people pay more for homes in Temecula Valley unified district - zoned for Great Oak high, Helen hunt & red hawk elementary, which is around the corner from Pechanga. Chaparral High and Temecula Valley high areas are also desirable.

For the price of a 4 bed SFR on 5,000-6,000 sq ft lot in Temecula you can buy 6 bed 5 bath house on 1/4 are in Menifee, or 20 acre ranch in Hemet. While the school district in Menifee is tolerable, you probably won’t like the school district in Hemet.

Temecula offers cheaper homes, $40 HOA and good schools compared to Irvine, but unless if you telecommute (or has FATFired) job opportunities are far inferior to Irvine and there is no metrolink. You would not like the traffic if you had to commute.
 
is Cerritos still heavily South Asian?

I would choose Rossmoor in a heartbeat but my wife is South County only. Such an old school great neighborhood vibe.
 
momopi said:
If you feel that Irvine is over priced where people pay more for smaller lots/homes, the same scenario is repeated elsewhere.

In Cerritos area (ABC unified school district) people pay more money for houses zoned for Leal Elementary and Cerritos High School. Homes in Cerritos and Rossmore (Los Alamitos High) is priced higher than Artesia, Lakewood, Norwalk, etc.

Cerritos schools is highly rated but unlike Irvine, we have declining student population and they will close 4 elementary schools including the one that my daughter attends. You won’t have this problem in Irvine.

Out in South Riverside county, people pay more for homes in Temecula Valley unified district - zoned for Great Oak high, Helen hunt & red hawk elementary, which is around the corner from Pechanga. Chaparral High and Temecula Valley high areas are also desirable.

For the price of a 4 bed SFR on 5,000-6,000 sq ft lot in Temecula you can buy 6 bed 5 bath house on 1/4 are in Menifee, or 20 acre ranch in Hemet. While the school district in Menifee is tolerable, you probably won’t like the school district in Hemet.

Temecula offers cheaper homes, $40 HOA and good schools compared to Irvine, but unless if you telecommute (or has FATFired) job opportunities are far inferior to Irvine and there is no metrolink. You would not like the traffic if you had to commute.
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Metrolink - too slow as commute … you still have to drive to and from the station.
 
OCtoSV said:
is Cerritos still heavily South Asian?

I would choose Rossmoor in a heartbeat but my wife is South County only. Such an old school great neighborhood vibe.
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Cerritos was never heavily south Asian (India/Pakistan).

The largest Asian demographics group in Cerritos is Filipino, though 50% (combined) of Asians in Cerritos are East Asian.

In Cerritos, La Palma, and Artesia, Asians are the largest demographics group.

I spent a lot of time hanging out in Rossmoor and Cerritos with friends when I was younger. My friend’s parents sold their house in Rossmoor in 2011 for $800k. For comparison a comparable sized 4 bed home in South side of Norwalk zoned for ABC school district (Whittmann elementary, Gahr high) might have sold for $400k then.

In terms of appreciation, the Rossmoor home sold in 2011 is valued at $2 mil today vs the $400k Norwalk house is valued at $1.2+ million today.

As I mentioned earlier, the downside to sending your kid to Cerritos is declining enrollment and pending closure of 4 schools.

On Norwalk-Santa Fe Springs-Downey side, the little lake city school district also faced declining enrollment and funding. They ran out of money to pay for staff health insurance and wanted employees (teachers) to pay $1400/mo for health insurance.

Result is the teachers went on strike and is still on strike. Students currently being babysit at school by subs.

Little Lake City School District teacher strike continues as talks resume, new superintendent steps in | abc7.com

Negotiations%20resumed%20in%20the%20Little%20Lake%20City%20School%20District%20teachers%20strike%20as%20a%20new%20superintendent%20stepped%20in.
abc7.com abc7.com
 
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vsfan said:
Metrolink - too slow as commute … you still have to drive to and from the station.
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I took the train to work in Irvine for few years. If you live and work reasonably close to train station it can work.

From Irvine station they had shuttle bus that drop you off in front of my office across from spectrum. But I kept an old Camry in the train station parking lot. You can park for 72 hrs like Fullerton station. If you need longer just ask for a permit.
 
momopi said:
Cerritos was never heavily south Asian (India/Pakistan).

The largest Asian demographics group in Cerritos is Filipino, though 50% (combined) of Asians in Cerritos are East Asian.

In Cerritos, La Palma, and Artesia, Asians are the largest demographics group.

I spent a lot of time hanging out in Rossmoor and Cerritos with friends when I was younger. My friend’s parents sold their house in Rossmoor in 2011 for $800k. For comparison a comparable sized 4 bed home in South side of Norwalk zoned for ABC school district (Whittmann elementary, Gahr high) might have sold for $400k then.

In terms of appreciation, the Rossmoor home sold in 2011 is valued at $2 mil today vs the $400k Norwalk house is valued at $1.2+ million today.

As I mentioned earlier, the downside to sending your kid to Cerritos is declining enrollment and pending closure of 4 schools.

On Norwalk-Santa Fe Springs-Downey side, the little lake city school district also faced declining enrollment and funding. They ran out of money to pay for staff health insurance and wanted employees (teachers) to pay $1400/mo for health insurance.

Result is the teachers went on strike and is still on strike. Students currently being babysit at school by subs.

Little Lake City School District teacher strike continues as talks resume, new superintendent steps in | abc7.com

Negotiations%20resumed%20in%20the%20Little%20Lake%20City%20School%20District%20teachers%20strike%20as%20a%20new%20superintendent%20stepped%20in.
abc7.com abc7.com
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In late 70//early 80s we used to visit a friends house in Cerritos for a 4th of July block party in the tract by the park next to Whitney HS and it was ALL Indian - back then Cerritos was known as little India. They must have moved to Irvine as Indians want to live around other Indians (but not Pakistanis - blood feud)
 
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