Dana Hills

Dana Hills Homes for Sale

Dana Hills is the neighborhood of Dana Point that lies roughly midway in between the 5 Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway, with Golden Lantern Street running straight through the middle of it.

The Dana Hills neighborhood boundaries are Stonehill Drive to the South, Del Obispo Street to the east, Camino Del Avion to the North, and Niguel Road to the west.

The neighborhood, having roughly 10,750 people in an area of 1.7 square miles, has comparatively more condos and townhouses than much of Dana Point real estate, and Dana Hills is both a little bit denser and a little bit less expensive than most of the other homes available in the City of Dana Point.

While Dana Hills homes aren’t really in walking distance of the beach, any home in the area constitutes less than a 10 minute drive to the sand or to Dana Point Harbor.

Dana Hills Home Prices

As Dana Hills is more inland than most of the city of Dana Point, Dana Hills real estate prices are comparatively quite a bit less expensive than a large majority of the other living areas that the city of Dana Point has to offer.

Prices on condos and townhomes in the Dana Hills vicinity start at about $400,000 for your typical 900 square foot 2-bedroom 2 bath starter home and can go up to about $600,000 for larger 3 bedroom residences of about 1,700 square feet or so.

The lower priced single family homes in the neighborhood can be had for as little as $625,000, making the area a real bargain when placed side by side with the prices on many of the other nearby homes in other neighborhoods.

Most homes in Dana Hills are comparatively cheaper, but also comparatively smaller, than the rest of Dana Point and are typically a little closer together as well. Mid-range single family homes in the area, typically running 1,750 to 2,000 square feet, range from $700,000 to $900,000.

Larger homes going up to 3,000 square feet on larger lots ranging up to around 12,000 square feet, are available as well, and much like the rest of Dana Hills, if you could magically plop that home in a different area nearby, you’d find that having the home be in Dana Hills makes it somewhat less expensive if you were to do an apples-to-apples comparison – it’s hard to find homes in Dana Hills that go about $1.5 million, and with the upper end being $1 million to about $1.5 million, Dana Hills homes are pretty reasonable for being in a nice neighborhood just up the road from the beach.

Dana Hills Real Estate Pros and Cons

Like all of Dana Point, Dana Hills is one of the most relaxed and least congested areas in all of South Orange County. Also, like the rest of Dana Point, one of the reasons Dana Hills isn’t particularly congested is that there isn’t a lot to actually do in Dana Hills (other than live). While Dana Hills is less than a 10 minute drive to the beaches of Dana Point, the beaches nearby are generally the least accessible, those with the least services, and those with the least amount of activities.

As such, while there are plenty of singles in the Dana Hills area, most Dana Hills residents are past the point in their lives where they are looking for the happening places and aren’t looking to be involved very much in the “scene”. As such, if your lifestyle is one in which being “out” when it’s dark is important to you, this particular neighborhood may be one you’d want to scratch off the list of areas that you’d be comfortable living in.

Of course, living in an area with less to do than most other areas nearby that is near the ocean and not near very many busy streets or urban arteries also translates into living in an area with very little crime. Since the beaches are less trafficked, so is the area, and the vast majority of people you run into anywhere within the Dana Hills neighborhood will be people that actually live in Dana Hills.

Like most Dana Point neighborhoods, Dana Hills has more of a close-knit community feel than much of the rest of the communities in the Southern California region, and many families stay in the community for the long term, with a very, very small percentage of Dana Hills residents being renters.

Dana Hills is home to excellent public schools, including the very highly regarded Dana Hills High School, which is ranked the 124th best high school in California by US News.

One other upside to some of living in Dana Hills for those that commute work is that living in this neighborhood could potentially save you quite a bit of car time because the community is a quick 10 minute drive to the 73 toll road – if you work in Irvine, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, or any of the other areas that the toll road passes through, but prefer to actually live in South County, Dana Hills may be on the top of your list simply due to the amount of time quick access to the 73 gives you.

Who Should Buy Dana Hills Real Estate?

People looking for a quiet, suburban neighborhood with a quiet, close knit atmosphere should feel right at home in Dana Hills.

Dana Hills is just close enough to the good stuff that it’s hard to make excuses not to take advantage of Dana Point’s beautiful amenities, such as the area’s pristine beaches and Dana Point Harbor, but just far enough away that you can be close to these amenities without paying the considerably higher price of being right on top of them.

The neighborhood is also just far enough away from the beach areas that it is a quick jump onto the freeway, making the neighborhood a top choice for families looking for a quiet smaller area atmosphere near the beach but not on it.