Brea, California, a suburban community

A city of around 35,000 in Southern California’s famed Orange County, Brea, California, is a suburban community just minutes from the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Like most areas in Orange County, the community felt a heavy impact from the economic downturn across the U.S., causing Brea real estate prices to fall and worry to set in among many homeowners who suddenly found themselves underwater on their mortgages.

According to the most recent statistics available on the Orange County Register‘s real estate blog, for the three-week period ended March 25, Brea saw drops in one of its Zip codes but small improvements in the other. In the city’s lower-priced Zip code, the median sales price was $457,500, a 13.7% drop year-over-year. In that area, there were 27 sales in the three-week period, a 15.6% fall from last year. The community’s second Zip code saw more promising signs. Its median sales price was $775,000, a 14.8% increase year-over-year. Meanwhile, sales activity was unchanged from last year in this area.

The most recent full monthly statistics, available on DQNews, showed similar trajectories. The first Zip code had a median price of $501,750, down 4.4% for the year, and sale volume of 17, a 5.6% drop. The city’s second Zip code saw a median price of $764,000 in February, 24.5% more than February 2009′s prices. It saw four homes sold in the month, double last year’s two sales during that time.

At the end of 2009, the city maintained a low level of Brea homes for sale that had been foreclosed upon. In the fourth quarter of 2009, there were just two foreclosures. There was just one single foreclosure in the third quarter of the year, though in the fourth quarter of 2008, there were no foreclosures at all in the city.