Huntington Beach homebuying: 6 reasons it’s a mixed picture

Here are Huntington Beach highlights of ReportsOnHousing house-hunting data for resales of existing detached and attached residences in the community.

This analysis includes October trends based on closed sales: sale counts; average price vs. average list price; highest and lowest price paid in the month; average cost per square foot and average size; plus, based on broker listing networks stats on Nov. 20, the “market time” metric comparing supply of listings to new escrows opened in past 30 days.

Trends we saw in Huntington Beach …

1. Sales: 165 sold vs. 173 a year ago.

2. Average sales price: $889,187 that ranked No. 14 out of 46 Orange County markets tracked and was up 7.6 percent in a year.

3. Compared to list: Sellers got 98.6 percent of what they typically asked for, ranking 24th of the 46 markets.

4. Range: High sale of $3,980,000 vs. the $300,000 low.

5. Sizing: On average, buyers paid $483 per square foot — up 6.4 percent in a year and 8th highest out of the 46 tracked.

6. Market speed, as of Nov. 30: 47 days, listing to escrow opened vs. 60 days a year ago and 56 days two years ago.

Compare these patterns to five October trends we saw in all of Orange County …

1. Sales: 2,553 sold vs. 2,575 a year ago, off 1 percent.

2. Average sales price: $868,090, up 10.4 percent in a year.

3. Compared to list: 98.4 percent.

4. Sizing: On average, buyers paid $464 per square foot — up 11.3 percent in a year — on a 1,870 square-foot residence.

5. Market speed, as of Nov. 30: 62 days vs. 73 days a year ago and 75 days two years ago.

DID YOU SEE …

Southern California population grows at fastest pace since 2014

Southern California housing takes nation’s largest bite of local paychecks

Southern California homes overvalued? Appraisers suggest yes

What bums out employees at Orange County’s top workplaces

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Drew Doughty scored early in the third period to lift the Los Angeles Kings over the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Saturday night.

Kyle Clifford scored the tying goal 2:22 into the third to set up Doughty’s winner, and Tyler Toffoli and Marian Gaborik also scored for Los Angeles. Jonathan Quick made 22 saves.

Troy Stecher, Nikolay Goldobin and Nic Dowd scored for Vancouver, which got 32 saves from Jacob Markstrom. Ben Hutton had two assists.

The Kings improved to 3-3-2 since an eight-game winning streak, while the Canucks dropped to 2-8-1 over their past 11.

After the teams exchanged goals early in the third, Doughty picked up the puck after his initial shot was blocked by defenseman Alexander Edler, then ripped his seventh of the season at 6:49. Victimized by Goldobin on his goal late in the second, the Kings’ star blue liner swung his arm in celebration along the boards with teammates as the Canucks fumed at the officials, apparently angry that the Kings had too many men on the ice — a grievance that appeared to be backed by replays.

Sam Gagner, who had two goals and an assist in Vancouver’s 5-2 victory over Chicago on Thursday, rang a shot off the crossbar midway through the period that bounced down in the crease and stayed out.

Markstrom kept the Canucks alive with a big stop on Toffoli, but Vancouver couldn’t find a way past Quick.

The home side grabbed a 3-2 lead 41 seconds into the third when Dowd, who was acquired from Los Angeles on Dec. 7, finished on a 2-on-1 rush by beating Quick with his first.

The Kings replied just 1:41 later when Trevor Lewis circled back off the rush before laying the puck in front to Clifford, who eventually banged home his first.

Stecher put Vancouver ahead 4:31 into the first, but Toffoli and Gaborik scored a minute apart later in the period to make it 2-1 Kings. Gaborik’s goal came on the power play.

Goldobin tied it late in the second period by toe-dragging around Doughty and moving into the slot before unleashing a backhand that fooled Quick.

Canucks rookie Brock Boeser, who leads all NHL rookies as well as his team in goals (21) and points (38), entered having scored in four straight games. He failed to get on the scoresheet against Los Angeles.

The Orange County high school sports schedule for Tuesday, Jan. 2.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Huntington Park Winter Invitational
Orangewood vs. Franklin at Salesian High, 1:30 p.m., Katella vs. Pioneer at Salesian High, 6 p.m.,
Capistrano Valley Christian vs. LACES at South Gate High, 4 p.m.
Nonleague
Newport Harbor at Segerstrom, Sunny Hills at Aliso Niguel

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Nonleague
Godinez at Beckman, El Dorado at Valencia, Heritage Christian at Mater Dei, Woodbridge at Marina

BOYS SOCCER
San Clemente at Texas Tournament

GIRLS SOCCER
Sunset League
Fountain Valley at Marina
Nonleague
La Serna at Troy

GIRLS WATER POLO
JSerra at Santa Ana Falcon Tournament

Segerstrom’s players knew it had been a while since their school’s varsity boys basketball team had defeated Westminster.

They did not know Westminster had an 11-game winning streak against them.

That streak ended Friday when Segerstrom beat Westminster 58-54 in the championship game of the Century Elks Classic tournament at Century High.

Segerstrom and Westminster are Golden West League rivals. They will play each other twice in league play, with the first game Jan. 12 at Westminster.

Senior point guard AJ Espinoza led Segerstrom (7-4) with 15 points. Abraham Negrete added 13 points and Jeffrey Nong scored 10 for the Jaguars.

Espinoza is 5-foot-7 but it was his in-traffic layup, off of a fine pass from Negrete, that gave the Jaguars a 54-53 lead with a minute to play. Westminster tied it on a free throw by Anthony Nguyen. Negrete put in a reverse layup to put Segerstrom back on top 56-54.

Espinoza made two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to seal the win over the Lions (6-8).

“We weren’t aware of the 11-game streak,” Espinoza, who was selected tournament MVP, said afterward. “But we were aware they had beaten us twice last year.”

Segerstrom had its biggest lead of 12 points at halftime. The Lions’ Isaiah Lee then sparked a rally that cut the Jaguars’ lead to 44-43 going into the fourth quarter.

Lee, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, paced Westminster with 20 points including four 3-points. Nguyen scored 12 points.

The tournament championship game had the intensity of a league game, with plenty of bodies on the floor and every shot contested. Segerstrom emphasizes quickly and patiently moving the ball around on offense.

“Since we’re so under-sized,” Espinonza said, “we have to get every a lot of touches. That’s been our winning formula so far this year.”

Jaguars coach Brandon Rogers was pleased with the effort and performance.

“We’re getting to the point where what we go over in practice and shootarounds is translating to the game,” said Rogers, in his third year coaching Segerstrom. “When we’re locked in like this were going go to be hard to beat, or at least we’ll be in every game.”

Also in the Century Elks Classic:

Newport Harbor 61, Pacifica 45: Dayne Chalmers’ 18 points led the Sailors (11-4) to victory in the third-place game. Newport Harbor finished in the top four in all three tournaments in which it played this season.

In the Orange Holiday Classic:

No. 3 Canyon 64, Diamond Ranch 52: Tournament MVP AJ Perry led the Comanches (14-1) with 24 points in the tournament championship game. Lucas Holden and Justin Williams, who scored 15 points, also represented Canyon on the all-tournament team.

In the Les Schwab Invitational:

Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va. 67, No. 1 Mater Dei 55: The Monarchs (9-3) lost to a long-time, cross-country rival in the tournament championship game in Portland, Ore. Spencer Freedman scored 19 points and Harrison Butler added 14 for Mater Dei. The Monarchs play at home against Santa Margarita on Thursday at 6 p.m.

In the Punahou Invitational:

Tesoro 57, Maryknoll of Hawaisi 39: Mahmoud El Farra scored 16 points to lead the Titans (10-4) in the third-place game. Tyler Broughton added 11 points for Tesoro.

In the Damien Classic:

Troy 54, Mark Keppel of Alhambra 40: Jared Reyes led the Warriors with 21 points as they won the tournament’s Bronze Division. Troy’s Alec Sinek was named the division’s tournament MVP.

In the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic:

No. 8 Laguna Beach 66, O’Connor of Phoenix 62: Blake Burzell’s 20 points guided the Breakers (14-3) to victory in the tournament third-place game.

OREM, Utah — Kenneth Ogbe scored 23 points including a key 3-pointer and Utah Valley beat Cal State Fullerton 87-78 on Saturday night.
Ogbe’s 3 gave the Wolverines a 73-63 lead with 5:32 to play. Kyle Allman scored five points to pull Cal State Fullerton to 73-68 before Utah Valley closed on a 14-10 surge. Ogbe made 1 of 3 free throws and Brandon Randolph converted a 3-point play and made six free throws during the stretch.
Ogbe made four of his six field goals from long range and was 7 of 8 from the line. Randolph and Akolda Manyang finished with 20 points apiece for Utah Valley (11-5), which made 30 of 36 free throws (83.3 percent).
Khalil Ahmad scored 18 points to lead five in double-figure scoring for Cal State Fullerton (7-5). Ahmad shot just 2 of 13 from the floor but made all 14 of his free-throw attempts. The Titans were 39-of-47 shooting (83 percent) from the line.

LOS ANGELES — Wade Phillips has done it again.

Hailed as a quick turnaround artist for the past three decades, Phillips has maintained his reputation during his first season as Rams defensive coordinator. Even if things go poorly for the Rams on Sunday in their backup-heavy season finale against San Francisco, the Rams’ defense will have improved in 2017.

The Rams have allowed 295 points this season, 99 fewer than in 2016, and the Rams have forced 25 turnovers compared to 18 last season. Most importantly, the Rams are headed to the playoffs.

Starting with the 1989 season, Phillips has been hired for eight jobs, and all eight of those teams made the playoffs in his first season. Six of them missed the playoffs the previous season. In Phillips’ first year, his teams have an average record of 11-5, compared to 7-9 in the season before his arrival.

“Obviously it’s not me,” Phillips said this week. “Obviously here it’s (Coach) Sean McVay. Normally, I’ve come in and the offense was good and they changed defensive coordinators because the defense wasn’t very good. And I’ve had some luck and success getting in the playoffs the first year with that.”

It’s clear that McVay’s worst-to-first offensive turnaround is a major reason why the Rams are 11-5 this season after their dreadful 4-12 season a year ago, but Phillips also has made a difference.

The Rams ranked 23rd last season in points per game against, at 24.6. Now they’re tied for eighth, at 19.7. As long as the 49ers don’t total more than 420 yards on Sunday, the Rams also will improve on last season’s average of 331.4 yards against per game.

Phillips’ teams have made statistical improvements in his first year upon his hiring as defensive coordinator in Denver (1989, and again in 2015), Buffalo (1995), Atlanta (2002), San Diego (2004), Houston (2011) and with the Rams this year, and as head coach with Dallas in 2007.

Including this season, Phillips’ defenses have improved by averages of 5.1 points and 31.3 yards per game in his first year, so the Rams’ improvement of 4.9 points is in line with Phillips’ past.

“I take some pride in it,” Phillips said, “but it’s obviously the players and the coaches that I’ve worked for and, especially this year, Sean. I think our coaches have done a really good job defensively, but Sean’s made a difference obviously.”

Phillips’ top first-year improvement was with the 2011 Texans, who allowed 9.3 fewer points and 91.2 fewer yards per game than they did in 2010. Connor Barwin was in his third season with the Texans when Phillips arrived, and Barwin totaled 11.5 sacks that season.

So it wasn’t a huge surprise when, after Phillips joined the Rams and Barwin was released by Philadelphia in March, Barwin signed with the Rams. Defensive backs Kavyon Webster (who played under Phillips in Denver) and Nickell Robey-Coleman also joined the Rams as free agents, even though the Rams were dreadful last season and seemed to be far from being a playoff team.

“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think we could compete,” Barwin said, “but I wouldn’t have told you then that I knew we were going to win the division. I knew Wade was special. I knew this was a talented team, but all these guys have just come together and this is the result everybody deserves.”

The Rams, under Phillips, made a transition to a 3-4 defense from the 4-3 they had run under coordinator Gregg Williams. The Rams actually have more of a five-man front and attack the quarterback more.

The Rams’ statistics in pass defense, run defense and third-down percentage essentially have been the same as last season, but they have recorded 48 sacks, compared to 31 last season, and have grabbed 16 interceptions, compared to 10 last season. Amazingly, the Rams have forced a turnover on the opponent’s first drive in four consecutive games and in eight of 15 games this season.

If the Rams (11-4) manage to beat the 49ers (5-10) — and that won’t be easy, given that they intend to rest Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald and several other top players — they will make an eight-win improvement from 2016, but that will only match the best single-season turnaround in Phillips’ career.

The Chargers went 4-12 in 2013, then fired defensive coordinator Dale Lindsey and hired Phillips. The Chargers allowed 128 fewer points in 2014, finished 12-4, won the AFC West and won one playoff game.

The Rams could be on a similar track, although they’d love to take a couple steps farther than those Chargers and send Phillips to the Super Bowl for the third time in his 41-year NFL career.

RAMS (11-4) vs. 49ERS (5-10)

When: Sunday, 1:25 p.m.

Where: the Coliseum

Line: 49ers by 4

TV/radio: Ch. 11; 710-AM, 93.1-FM, 1330-AM (Spanish)

RAMS OFFENSE vs. 49ERS DEFENSE

The Rams hold a nine-point lead over the Philadelphia Eagles in the race to see which team will finish the season with the most points in the NFL. That’s really the only drama remaining here. The Rams will attempt to rest as many offensive players as possible, including Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, John Sullivan, Andrew Whitworth, Rodger Saffold and Cooper Kupp. The offense is in the hands of quarterback Sean Mannion, who will make his first NFL start. Mannion’s problem figures to be the Rams’ makeshift offensive line, but if he gets time, he might be able to throw against a 49ers defense that ranks in the bottom quarter of the league against the pass. The 49ers allow only 3.8 yards per rushing attempt. EDGE: RAMS

49ERS OFFENSE vs. RAMS DEFENSE

Who is going to be on the field for the Rams? Aaron Donald, Alec Ogletree and Mark Barron already have been ruled out, and it seems unlikely that veterans such as Robert Quinn and Connor Barwin will play much. And will the Rams risk playing Trumaine Johnson, knowing that their other starting cornerback, Kayvon Webster, already is out for the season? This looks like trouble for the Rams, particularly since 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been the talk of the NFL since he claimed the starting job this month. Garoppolo, the former New England backup, has led San Francisco to four consecutive wins and has completed 69 percent of his pass attempts for 1,268 yards and five touchdowns. EDGE: 49ERS

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Rams decided to stick with kicker Sam Ficken, even though he missed a 36-yard field and an extra point last week against Tennessee. The hope, likely, is that Ficken will be calmer and find a rhythm in his second game, and in one that has lower stress. The nightmare scenario for the Rams would be for Ficken to struggle again and get cut, and for their kicking situation to be unsettled going into the playoffs. San Francisco has no such concerns about its kicking game. Robbie Gould, cast aside by Chicago at the start of the 2016 season, has been excellent in his first season with the 49ers. Gould, at age 35, has made 29 of 31 field-goal attempts, including all four attempts from beyond 50 yards. EDGE: 49ERS

COACHING

Sean McVay made a bold move this week when he decided to rest many of his top players in the hopes that the Rams will be fresher and healthier for their first-round playoff game. It’s probably the right move, but it also puts some pressure on McVay to keep those players sharp, so they don’t look stale after what essentially is a second bye week. San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan will be motivated to end this season with a fifth consecutive victory and build some momentum toward 2018. It’s amazing how much better Shanahan looked as a coach after the 49ers acquired a quarterback around whom he could build. EDGE: RAMS

INTANGIBLES

It’s not as though the Rams will be unmotivated in this game. They have a number of players, starting with Mannion, who will want to play well and improve their stature for future seasons, either with the Rams or other teams that might want to sign them as free agents. This could be a showcase game for the Rams’ Tavon Austin, who seemingly is a strong candidate to have his contract bought out at the end of this season. The 49ers look to be building something nice. They’ve won four consecutive games and are coming off a signature victory over a good Jacksonville team. They’ll want to finish strong. EDGE: 49ERS

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Rams cornerback Troy Hill vs. 49ers receiver Marquise Goodwin. When Tennessee moved the ball last week against the Rams, it usually was by throwing to the receiver covered by Hill. That’s not great news for the Rams, who have been relying on Hill to replace Kayvon Webster, whose season ended after he tore his Achilles this month. Hill has been solid at times over the past two seasons, and if the Rams rest cornerback Trumaine Johnson against the 49ers, Hill likely will get a chance at redemption against the 49ers’ top receiver, Goodwin, who had 100-yard games against Houston and Tennessee this month.

PREDICTION: 49ERS 35, RAMS 31

The Rams opened as seven-point favorites before McVay announced that he would treat this as a rest week for many of his top players. If their offensive line holds up, the Rams still should be able to move the ball against the 49ers, but the problem will be on defense, without Donald and an entire group of starting linebackers. Garoppolo has been great of late, and the 49ers, improbably, just put up 44 points against a strong Jacksonville defense. So, the Rams will probably go into the playoffs with a loss and as the No. 4 seed in the NFC, but by Monday morning, everyone will have forgotten about this game.

BREA — At least two citations were issued and one car was towed Friday night, Dec. 29, after about 1,000 cars hopscotched from one parking lot to another in La Habra, Brea and Fullerton during a massive meetup of automobile enthusiasts, authorities said.

Around 10:20 p.m. those participating in the meetup converged on a parking lot outside of a Target store near Imperial Highway and Harbor Boulevard in La Habra, Brea police Lt. Adam Hawley said.

As police were arriving at the parking lot the group dispersed and cars, including numerous domestic and import vehicles that had been modified, began heading east on Imperial Highway. Eventually about 1,000 vehicles filled two parking lots on the north and south side of the 2500 block of Imperial Highway in a commercial area in Brea, Hawley said.

Just after 11 p.m., Brea police closed Imperial Highway between the 57 Freeway and Kraemer Boulevard. It was later reopened.

Eleven officers from the Brea and Fullerton police departments closed all of the exits to the parking lots except one, and the cars left, heading west on Imperial Highway into Fullerton. Several of the cars were pulled over by police and citations were issued to some drivers.

Large car clubs, which promote the meetups through social media, have in the past converged on Southern California cities, posing a danger to people in parking lots where they congregate, Hawley said.

“In many of their past meetups they have started racing in parking lots and doing burnouts with many pedestrians present,” he said. “We really want to shut them down before that takes place.”

There were no reports of injuries in the Friday night incident.

The Orange County rush to pay property tax bills early to beat a diminishing tax break meant collections on Friday, Dec. 29, ran nine times higher than a year ago.

Orange County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich reports that on Friday, Dec. 29, her office collected 17,000 property tax payments worth $85 million for the second tax installment due April 10. On the same day a year ago, 1,800 bills for $9.6 million were collected.

Higher-income taxpayers and recent homebuyers could lose some federal income tax deductibility for state and local taxes paid beginning next year. Thus, property owners are making payments in 2017 to beat a new $10,000 cap on the deductibility of state and local tax payments beginning in 2018. There’s no limit on these deductible payments for tax year 2017.

Freidenrich said most of the money on the last business day of the year came via electronic checks through her office’s payment website, $45 million from 9,573 taxpayers. That payment option (as well as paying by credit or debit card, with a service fee) is still available through 2017’s last minute, with a time-stamped receipt, at ttc.ocgov.com.

As of Thursday, Dec. 28, collections of second installment payments for the 2017-2018 billing cycle totaled $636 million paid vs. $403 million last year at this time — a jump of 58 percent with 206,791 accounts paid vs. 165,583 a year ago.

See related stories: 

While IRS blocks some property-tax deductions, here’s why California should be OK

HELOC loans might still be deductible under new tax plan