College Park

What College Park is

College Park is the grid of 1950s houses south of Fair Drive in Costa Mesa, between Fairview Road and Newport Boulevard. The Orange County Fairgrounds, with the OC Fair and the Pacific Amphitheatre, sit across Fair Drive; Vanguard University and the Costa Mesa Civic Center hold the corner by Newport Boulevard; Orange Coast College is a few blocks up Fairview, which is where the street names come from. College Park Elementary is inside the tract on Notre Dame Road. The 55 ends into Newport Boulevard at the edge of the neighborhood, so the Peninsula is a ten minute drive down one street, the 17th Street restaurants are a mile south, and the Eastside begins across Newport Boulevard. It is central Costa Mesa with the Eastside's drive times, which explains most of what follows.

The street names give it away instantly: Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Vassar, Colgate, Bucknell, Fordham, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Carnegie, Hanover, Bowling Green and Littleton. Universities, laid out in a grid.

Of the 39 homes that closed here in the last two years, 36 were built between 1956 and 1959: eight from 1956, twelve from 1957, eight from 1958 and eight from 1959. One earlier home from 1953 and two later ones from 1967 and 1981 make up the rest. A four year build window covering 92 percent of the market.

The homes are detached single family residences with no common walls, single story ranch plans for the most part, on lots from 5,220 to 8,624 square feet, median 7,200. Sizes ran 1,190 to 2,230 square feet, median 1,522. Dues are $0 on every home and there is no land lease. The life is a yard, a garage, a walk to the elementary school, and the fair for two weeks every summer.

Who buys here, and why

The renovator buys here first, and that is the defining fact of this market. College Park is the most heavily flipped neighborhood I have measured, and the investors who work it buy the original 1,500 square foot plan at zero days on market, with no contingencies, because they know the finished version clears between $1.6 and $1.9 million. The second buyer is the one who pays that number: the couple or young family coming out of a Newport or Eastside rental who wants a detached house near Newport Boulevard, ten minutes from the Peninsula, and has decided that a turnkey 1950s ranch at this price is a better trade than a smaller house across the boulevard. They buy the finished product and they buy it fast; the completed flips here sold in 3 to 20 days. The third is the family that wants to live in the original house, with College Park Elementary a few blocks away and a 7,200 square foot lot to grow into. They compete with the first buyer for the same originals, and they lose more often than they win, because the investor closes faster and waives more.

What separates College Park from Mesa del Mar, north past the fairgrounds, is era, size and pace of redevelopment. Mesa del Mar is a 1960s tract with larger plans and a slower flip count; College Park is late 1950s, smaller, and turning over to renovated product faster than anywhere else in the city. Against the Eastside across Newport Boulevard, College Park is the single era tract at a central Costa Mesa price with nearly the same drive to the water, where the Eastside spans a century of vintages at a much higher price per foot. Against Freedom Homes on the Westside, which is the other one builder tract from the same decade, College Park has the fairgrounds, the college and Newport Boulevard on its edges, and a flip market that Freedom Homes has barely started.

The finding: this is the most heavily flipped neighborhood I have measured

Here is what came out of the data, and I have not seen it published anywhere.

Five College Park homes appear twice in the last two years. Every single one came back at a higher number. In a neighborhood with 39 total sales, that means roughly one in eight transactions here was a resale of a home that had already changed hands inside the same two year window.

• 462 Swarthmore, 1,522 square feet. Sold $1,100,000 in October 2024, resold $1,625,000 in March 2025. Up $525,000, 48 percent, in five months.
• 306 Princeton, 1,521 square feet. Sold $1,280,000 in November 2024 after 6 days, resold $1,790,000 in July 2025 after 3 days. Up $510,000, 40 percent, in eight months.
• 2433 Littleton. Sold $1,295,000 in January 2025 at 1,614 square feet, resold $1,925,000 in May 2026 at 1,964 square feet. Up $630,000, 49 percent, and the recorded square footage grew by 350 feet, so this one added space rather than just finishes.
• 304 Hanover, 1,446 square feet. Sold $1,500,000 in May 2025, resold $1,780,000 in August 2026. Up $280,000, 19 percent, in fifteen months.
• 2563 Columbia. Sold $1,395,000 in June 2025 at zero days on market, at 1,952 square feet. It is on the market now at $1,850,000 with the square footage recorded at 2,235.

Four completed resales, gains of $280,000 to $630,000, a median gain around $517,000 on entry prices in the $1.1 to $1.5 million range. The product that earned those gains is consistent: the 1950s plan opened up into one living space, a kitchen rebuilt as the center of the house, new systems, new windows and floors, a finished yard, delivered turnkey to a buyer who wants nothing left to do. Where the house also grew, as 2433 Littleton did, the market paid for the footage on top. That is the clearest picture of renovation economics I have been able to assemble for any neighborhood on this site.

The counterpoint: the fifth flip is sitting

That fifth one matters as much as the four that worked.

2563 Columbia spent 198 days on the market asking $1,850,000, after being bought for $1,395,000 in June 2025. As of November 1, 2026 it is no longer listed, and it never recorded a sale at that number.

Four flips worked and the fifth is sitting. That is not a reason to dismiss the pattern, but it is a reason to be careful about extrapolating it. The homes that resold quickly did so in 3 to 20 days, which means the market recognised them immediately. A flip that sits for 198 days is missing something the fast ones had, and in this tract that is usually the ask: it was priced to the top of the finished band at a size where the band has not been proven. The number it eventually closes at is worth watching.

What that means depending on who you are

If you are buying to live here: you are competing with investors on the original homes, which is why they sell in days. Assume a renovated College Park home carries roughly a $500,000 premium over an original one, and decide honestly whether you would rather pay it or do the work.

If you are selling an original home: the offer that arrives with no contingencies and a fast close is priced off the $1.6 to $1.9 million exit, not off what you paid. Knowing that number is the entire negotiation.

If you are the one renovating: the completed product has been clearing between $1.6 and $1.9 million. The 173 day listing at $1,850,000 shows where the top of that band meets resistance.

What homes actually sell for

Across the 39 closings, prices ran from $1,100,000 to $2,415,000, with a median of $1,505,000.

Price per square foot ran $598.97 to $1,315.79, median $1,004. Lots ran 5,220 to 8,624 square feet, median 7,200.

Split by size:

• Under 1,400 square feet: 8 sales, median $1,383,500 at $1,033 per square foot, median 17 days on market.
• 1,700 square feet and up: 8 sales, median $1,577,500 at $797 per square foot, median 10 days on market.

Roughly 43 percent more square footage for about 14 percent more money. The same land driven pattern as the rest of Costa Mesa, and another reason the flips work: adding square footage to a College Park house has been rewarded, which is exactly what 2433 Littleton did.

The plans repeat

Four recent sales were 1,521 square feet. Three more were 1,522. Two each at 1,378, 1,446, 1,587, 1,614 and 1,646.

That is a builder tract still wearing its original plans, and it means comparables here are unusually reliable. If you find a College Park sale at your square footage, it is very likely the same floor plan you are standing in.

How fast homes move

Days on market ran 0 to 170, with a median of 12. Three sales closed at zero days and seventeen of 39 closed within ten days.

The slow tail is real too, and it is worth reading alongside the flip data. The homes that sit are the ones priced at the finished end of the range.

What is available right now

As of November 1, 2026, College Park had five active listings, two homes under contract and two pending. Actives run from $1,299,000 on College Avenue to $1,955,500 on Tulane, with Tulane Road, Wake Forest and Bucknell in between. 2425 Bowdoin is still under contract at $1,899,000, now 58 days in, 360 Villanova went under contract at $1,975,000, and 266 Joann Street is pending at $2,250,000. The 2563 Columbia flip has left the market.

Nine homes in play in a neighborhood that produced 39 sales in two years is a real step up from the four that were in play in September, and for the first time this year a buyer here has a genuine choice of standing inventory.

What I check before writing an offer here

• Pull the prior sale on anything renovated. Five homes here traded twice in two years. If the home you are looking at sold recently for a much lower number, you should know that before you write.
• Check whether square footage changed between sales. At least two of these homes grew. Confirm the addition was permitted and that the recorded footage matches.
• Systems, on a late 1950s house. Original panels, cast iron or galvanized drain lines and end of life roofs are the usual credit requests.
• Identify the floor plan. The plans repeat heavily. Find the last sale of your plan and the comparison is close to exact.
• Ask what the renovation actually included. The difference between a cosmetic refresh and a systems level rebuild is worth several hundred thousand dollars in this tract.
• Watch the 198 day listing. 2563 Columbia left the market without selling at $1,850,000, which is itself a read on where the top of this market sits.

Frequently asked questions about College Park

Does College Park have an HOA?
No. Dues are $0 on every home, with no association name and no amenities.

Is College Park gated?
No.

When was College Park built?
Almost entirely between 1956 and 1959, with 36 of 39 recent sales built in that four year window. The median year is 1957.

What streets are in College Park?
Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Vassar, Colgate, Bucknell, Fordham, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Carnegie, Hanover, Bowling Green and Littleton, among others. The naming theme is American colleges and universities.

What do homes in College Park sell for?
Across 39 recent closings, $1,100,000 to $2,415,000 with a median of $1,505,000.

Is College Park a flipper neighborhood?
By the data, more than anywhere else I have measured. Five of 39 recent sales were homes that had already traded within the same two year window, and every one came back higher, with gains from $280,000 to $630,000.

What does a renovation add here?
The four completed resales gained $280,000, $510,000, $525,000 and $630,000, a median around $517,000, on entry prices between $1.1 and $1.5 million. Those are gross figures before renovation cost, carrying cost, transaction costs and tax.

Do all the flips work?
No. The most recent one, 2563 Columbia, was listed for 198 days at $1,850,000 after being purchased at $1,395,000, and left the market without a recorded sale. Four worked, one did not.

What is the price per square foot?
Median $1,004, ranging $598.97 to $1,315.79. Homes under 1,400 square feet ran $1,033 per foot and homes at 1,700 and up ran $797.

How big are the homes?
1,190 to 2,230 square feet, median 1,522. The plans repeat: four recent sales were 1,521 square feet and three more were 1,522.

How big are the lots?
5,220 to 8,624 square feet, median 7,200.

How fast do homes sell?
Median 12 days, ranging 0 to 170. Seventeen of 39 sales closed within ten days.

Is anything for sale right now?
As of November 1, 2026, five active listings from $1,299,000 to $1,955,500, plus two under contract, 2425 Bowdoin at $1,899,000 and 360 Villanova at $1,975,000, and two pending, 453 Princeton at $1,399,000 and 266 Joann Street at $2,250,000.

Is a bigger home worth it here?
Homes at 1,700 square feet and up sold for about 14 percent more than homes under 1,400 while delivering roughly 43 percent more square footage. Adding space has been rewarded in this tract, which is part of why the renovations work.

Are there condos or townhomes in College Park?
No. All recent sales are detached single family residences with no common walls.

Is College Park on a land lease?
No.

Which school district serves College Park?
Newport Mesa Unified School District. College Park Elementary is inside the tract on Notre Dame Road. Attendance boundaries are set by the district and do change, so confirm your specific address with the district before relying on an assignment.

Where does the data on this page come from?
The California Regional MLS, filtered to the College Park subdivision code, using recorded closed sales rather than list prices or estimates. Figures are current as of the last update to this page and should be verified for any specific property.