Property Tax Update

Property tax is the top source of revenue for the City of Newport Beach. It represents almost half, 45.8 percent, of all General Fund revenues. FY 2016 property taxes as a whole are budgeted to come in at $87.8 million, which is 4.3 percent, or $3.7 million, higher than FY15 receipts. As the economy continues to improve it is expected that prior year penalties and interest receipts will continue their downward trend.

The median sales price in Newport Beach through December of 2015 stood at $1.8 million at the end of December 2015. The number of home sales for the quarter (306) is less than the prior quarter (406), but higher than the same quarter in the prior year (294). Due to the holiday season, inventory and affordability constraints home sales moved at a slower pace.  

Newport Beach Single Family Residential Full Value Sales (Q1 2013 – Q4 2015)

The housing market in Southern California ended on a high note for 2015.  The median price paid for all homes sold in December was $443,000, a 1.0 percent increase from $438,500 in the prior month and a 6.7 percent increase from $415,000 in December 2014.  The December 2015 median was the highest for any month since October 2007 when it was $445,000.  Home sales got a boost from a batch of transactions that normally would have closed in November but were delayed as the industry adjusted to new federal mortgage regulations that took effect in October.  December 2015 home sales of $500,000 or more accounted for 41.6 percent of all sales for the month, up from 36.7 percent in 2014.