Orange County median home prices tops $1M for the first time

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- For the first time ever, the median home price in Orange County has topped $1 million.

The county now has 45 of its 83 zip codes averaging seven figures for the average home value.

The latest milestone represents the 15th record high in a two-year, pandemic-era home-buying binge.

Statewide, the median price of a home hit another record high of more than $849,000 in March, driven by a surge in the sale of higher-priced homes, the Realtors Association's data show.

The leaders in home prices continue to be in the San Francisco Bay area, where the median prices in March were $2.28 million in San Mateo County, $2.06 million in San Francisco County, $1.95 million in Santa Clara County and $1.737 million in Marin County.

Orange County prices rose 3.5% from February to March and 22% in a year.

There is a bit of good news for buyers -- the high prices have cooled the spending spree, with March sales down 19% from a year ago.

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City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report