Known for swimming and sandy beaches, Newport Beach is a dreamy city in Orange County, California. The city is home to the picturesque Newport Harbor, which is the largest recreational boat harbor on the U.S. west coast. Throughout the year, many festivals take place in Newport Beach including the Newport Beach Jazz Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and the Newport Beach Food and Wine Festival. 

What is the community of Newport Beach like?  

Named by New York Times as "One of the top ten holiday happenings in the nation," Newport Beach is often referred to as a paradise – and it indeed is a paradise for surfers and beachgoers in particular. Visitors come to Newport Beach mostly for the sunny weather, the sandy beaches, and the beautiful views that include spectacular sunsets in the evenings. 
Ranked by Niche as the 13th best place to retire in California, Newport Beach offers sublime recreational opportunities including oceanfront restaurants, immersive shopping areas, and several top-notch golf courses. One of the most iconic attractions of Newport Beach is its neighborhood called Balboa Peninsula, which is named after the famous Spanish explorer, Vasco Nunez de Balboa. Stretching across a 3-mile strip, the Peninsula is bordered on one side by the harbor and the other side by pristine sandy beaches and the scenic Pacific Ocean. The neighborhood is home to a plethora of splendid restaurants, bars, and exciting nightlife.  
In addition, Newport Beach is also home to the exotic Corona del Mar State Beach, which is a state park and beach that is operated by the City of Newport Beach. Spanning over 30 acres, the beach stretches over half a mile and is particularly loved by families and swimmers. You may also want to visit the nearby Crystal Cove State Park, which is one of California’s largest remaining open spaces and natural coastlines. Halfway between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach, Crystal Cove features beautiful sandy beaches, sparkling tidal pools, immersive surf, picturesque hills, and densely wooded canyons and ridges, making it a breathtaking natural landscape.   
Should you want to go shopping, head to the opulent Fashion Island, which is an open-air mall offering Pacific Ocean views, perfect to enjoy shopping while also not missing out on Newport’s year-round enviable weather. The luxury shopping destination is home to over 150 stores, including top brands such as Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Anthropologie, and Trina Turk. 

What is Real Estate like in Newport Beach?     

Real estate in Newport Beach has shown an average growth of 4.82% per year since the year 2000. Since 2000, the prices of homes in Newport Beach have appreciated by a staggering 168.76%. National real estate firm, EXP, categorizes Newport Beach’s housing market as ‘somewhat competitive’. The sale prices of homes in Newport Beach have experienced strong growth of more than 10.8% since April last year.   
The median home price in Newport Beach is $2,895,000. Currently, there are 513 active homes for sale in Newport Beach, and normally it takes 63 days for a listed home to get off the market. The average cost to rent a house in Newport Beach is $3,567 per month. At present, there are 37,605 homes and apartments in the city, 56.4% of which are owned, and the remaining 43.6% are rented.      

How is the economic landscape of Newport Beach?    

Over the last year, Newport Beach’s job market has grown by 0.6%, while its unemployment rate stands at a decent 5%. The US average is 6%. Also, the city’s job market is expected to grow by 31.9% over the next ten years.  
On average, a Newport Beach resident earns around $78,000 per annum, substantially higher than the US average of $28500. The city’s median household income of almost $108,000 per resident is also significantly greater than the US average of approximately $53000. Most of the residents of Newport Beach work in real estate, wholesale, education, manufacturing, retail, finance, professional and technical services, and healthcare.    

How are the schools in Newport Beach?     

Newport Beach is covered by 3 school districts, with Newport-Mesa Unified School District being the city’s major school district encompassing 31 schools and 22,018 enrolled students. 
When it comes to higher education, Newport Beach lies just 7.7 miles from one of California's most iconic universities - the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Established in 1965, UCI is regarded as one of the Public Ivies, meaning that it is considered to be one of the few public universities in the U.S. whose quality of education parallels that of the Ivy League. The university offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and professional degrees, and roughly 30,000 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students were enrolled at UCI as of Fall 2019. To put UCI in true perspective, it is pertinent to mention that the university has produced seven Nobel Prize laureates and seven Pulitzer Prize winners – a staggering feat for any educational institution in the world.           

Newport Beach in a nutshell        

Newport Beach is one of the most picturesque cities in Southern California, home to an incredible array of outdoor recreational opportunities such as the enviable oceanfront restaurants in Balboa Peninsula or the unparalleled surfing opportunities at the Corona del Mar State Beach. With easy access to top schools, shopping destinations, and top-quality amenities, Newport Beach is one dreamy place to call home.