Can you walk to the beach from Newport Coast?

Usually not; from Newport Coast you'd drive to the beach. Crystal Cove State Park's 3.2 miles of beach lie below Coast Highway. Day use runs from 6 a.m. to sunset and costs $15, or $20 on peak days. In Corona del Mar, Big Corona and the Little Corona tide pools are a walk from the Flower Streets.

Does Newport Coast or Corona del Mar have HOA fees?

Newport Coast does, on nearly every home. Active listings in September 2026 showed dues of about $340 to $1,500 a month. Many homes pay both a master and a village association, and homes behind guard gates also pay for gate operations. Houses on Corona del Mar's old village grid generally don't carry HOA dues.

Is Corona del Mar in a flood zone?

Mostly not. When I checked FEMA's current flood map against the roughly 2,700 buildings mapped in the village in September 2026, every one except two waterfront buildings at China Cove sat in zone X, minimal flood hazard. The high-risk V zone covered the beaches below the bluff. Check the specific address on FEMA's map before you open escrow.

Which has newer homes, Newport Coast or Corona del Mar?

Newport Coast. Its villages went up mostly in the 1990s and 2000s, and September 2026 listings ran from 1994 construction to custom houses still being finished. Corona del Mar's grid was platted a century ago, so new houses there replace old ones, and the stock runs from original 1920s to 1950s cottages to custom rebuilds.

Is Newport Coast gated?

Mostly, yes. The majority of Newport Coast's villages sit behind guard gates. Each village has its own association and design rules, and the associations keep up the slopes. Corona del Mar is an open city street grid with Coast Highway running through the middle.

Can you build a duplex or rent out a unit in Corona del Mar?

Yes, on a lot zoned R-2, the city's two-unit district, which covers large parts of the Flower Street grid. Short-term rentals of 30 days or less are another matter: they need one of the city's capped permits, they're banned in R-1 districts, and new owners join a wait list. If the seller holds a valid permit, the buyer has 60 days after title transfers to apply to take it over.

Are Newport Coast and Corona del Mar part of Newport Beach?

Yes, both. Newport Beach annexed Corona del Mar in 1923 and Newport Coast as of January 1, 2002. Coastal permits still differ: Corona del Mar follows the city's Local Coastal Program, while Newport Coast follows the County of Orange's certified program under a 2001 state law, and the city plans to adopt its own for Newport Coast.

Can you walk from Corona del Mar to Newport Coast?

Yes, on the Buck Gully trail. Buck Gully's three-mile canyon separates the two, and its 2.55-mile trail runs between the lower trailhead at the top of Poppy Avenue and an entrance on San Joaquin Hills Road. It's open dawn to dusk, and dogs aren't allowed.

Newport Coast vs Corona del Mar: Compared

Newport Coast or Corona del Mar? The short answer.

Newport Coast if you want a newer house behind a gate with a state park below it; Corona del Mar if you want to walk to the beach and to dinner from a house in the old village. Newport Coast is made up of the Irvine Company's hillside villages, built mostly in the 1990s and 2000s, with HOA dues on nearly every home and much of the area in the state's very high fire hazard zone. Corona del Mar is the Flower Street grid on the bluffs, with two beaches below, Coast Highway traffic and a lot of duplex zoning. In September 2026, asking prices for houses ran from about $3.5 million to $65 million in Newport Coast and about $3.7 million to $40 million in Corona del Mar.

See them for yourself.

A putting green with a few golfers and a lone windswept tree above coastal scrub, the blue Pacific and Catalina Island beyond — Newport CoastGolfers on the Ocean South course at Pelican Hill

Pink roses, blue agapanthus and bougainvillea crowd a white picket fence in front of a cottage with a blue scalloped awning — Corona del MarA cottage garden on Acacia Avenue in the Flower Streets

Restored 1930s beach cottages in the Crystal Cove Historic District — Newport CoastThe Crystal Cove cottages, the seaside colony below the villages

A bluff top overlook above waves rolling onto a wide sandy beach, with the long harbor jetty and a sky of white clouds — Corona del MarBig Corona beach and the harbor jetty from Inspiration Point

A large round pool with clear turquoise water, a curved brick deck, palm trees and a long cream colonnade under a blue sky — Newport CoastThe round Coliseum Pool at the Resort at Pelican Hill

Flower beds and a fountain at Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona del Mar — Corona del MarSherman Library and Gardens on Coast Highway

Live from the MLS

Newport Coast vs Corona del Mar by the numbers.

Newport Coast asks 2.4 times as much as Corona del Mar.

Newport Coast$2,799

Corona del Mar$2,558

$1,500Newport Beach

Homes for sale in Newport Coast are 91% bigger than in Corona del Mar.

Newport Coast5,205 sq ft

Corona del Mar2,723 sq ft

All of Newport Beach2,511 sq ft

Listings in Newport Coast and Corona del Mar have been on the market about as long.

The price scale and the gauge run from one end of the Newport Beach neighborhoods we cover to the other. Each bar on the price per square foot card is one of them, lowest asking price first. Gray always marks the median for all of Newport Beach. Right now Newport Coast has 42 homes for sale and Corona del Mar has 49. Asking prices for homes on the market right now inside each mapped area, not sale prices.

Updated October 3, 2026, 7:00 PM PT

Which one fits you?

Newport Coast 4Corona del Mar 4

Corona del Mar

Walk to the beach and dinner

From the Flower Streets you can walk to Big Corona, the Little Corona tide pools, the bluff-top overlooks and the cafes on Coast Highway. From Newport Coast you'd drive to the beach and to Corona del Mar's shops.

Newport Coast

Newer houses

Newport Coast was built village by village through the 1990s and 2000s, and September 2026 listings ran from 1994 construction to custom houses still being finished. Corona del Mar mixes original 1920s to 1950s cottages with custom rebuilds on the same streets.

Newport Coast

Gates and privacy

Most Newport Coast villages sit behind guard gates on ridges above the state park. Corona del Mar is an open city street grid with State Route 1 running down the middle, so there's through traffic all day.

Corona del Mar

Lower fire risk

As I read the state's 2025 map, Corona del Mar's village grid sits mostly outside the fire hazard zones, with the Buck Gully rim rated moderate and high. Most of Newport Coast's hillside villages are in the very high zone, which brings defensible-space rules and affects insurance.

Corona del Mar

No HOA dues

Newport Coast listings in September 2026 showed HOA dues of about $340 to $1,500 a month, often paid to two associations, and the tax bill can include special assessments. Houses on Corona del Mar's old village grid generally don't pay HOA dues.

Newport Coast

Parkland and golf next door

Crystal Cove State Park, 2,791 acres with 3.2 miles of coast, sits below the highway, and Pelican Hill's two Tom Fazio golf courses are in the middle of the district. Corona del Mar has its two beaches and the Buck Gully trail, with Crystal Cove just down the coast.

Newport Coast

Straight onto the 73

The 73 toll road runs along Newport Coast's northern edge, and Newport Coast Drive climbs straight up to it. That's the quick way to Irvine, John Wayne Airport and the 405. From Corona del Mar you take MacArthur Boulevard or Jamboree Road up past Fashion Island.

Corona del Mar

A second unit on the lot

Much of Corona del Mar's old grid is zoned R-2, which allows two units per lot, so many buyers count on rent from the second unit when they run the numbers. Newport Coast's villages each come with their own association and design rules.

Compare the details.

Dark rocks in calm, glassy water under an orange sunset sky, with the long low outline of Catalina Island on the horizon

Newport Coast

The Irvine Company's gated hillside villages, built in the 1990s and 2000s above Crystal Cove State Park

Median asking $13.27M

See homes Read the Newport Coast guide

Waterfront houses stacked on a rocky shore under tall palms, seen across calm blue water on a clear day

Corona del Mar

The bluff-top village at the harbor mouth, where the Flower Streets run down to two beaches

Median asking $5.5M

See homes Read the Corona del Mar guide

Homes and lots
	Newport Coast	Corona del Mar
What it is	The Irvine Company's master-planned hillside villages, most behind guard gates	A bluff-top beach village east of the Newport Harbor entrance, founded in 1904
Era of homes	Mostly 1990s and 2000s; Sept 2026 listings ran from 1994 builds to houses still being finished	Original 1920s to 1950s cottages next to custom rebuilds
Housing mix	Custom estates at the top, tract houses in the core, entry-level condos and townhomes	Rebuilt houses, R-2 duplexes, front and rear units often sold as "1/2" condos, and original cottages
Asked (Sept 2026)	Houses about $3.5M to $65M; condos and townhomes about $1.7M to $7.5M	Houses about $3.7M to $40M; duplexes about $4.5M to $6.2M; condos from about $1.6M
HOA and assessments	Nearly every home; about $340 to $1,500 a month, often paid to two associations; special assessments on some tax bills	Generally none on the old village grid

Daily life
	Newport Coast	Corona del Mar
The beach	Crystal Cove State Park below the highway, 3.2 miles of coast; usually a drive	Big Corona's half mile of sand and the Little Corona tide pools, a walk from home
Schools (Newport-Mesa Unified)	Newport Coast Elementary (Harbor View for the Crystal Cove community), then Corona del Mar Middle and High	Harbor View Elementary, then Corona del Mar Middle and High
Main roads	The 73 toll road at the northern edge; Coast Highway along the coast	Coast Highway (State Route 1) through the middle; MacArthur and Jamboree up to the 73 and the 405

Rules and risks
	Newport Coast	Corona del Mar
Fire hazard (2025 state map)	Most hillside villages very high; high, moderate and unzoned pockets mostly in Newport Ridge and near the highway	Village grid mostly outside the zones; Buck Gully rim lots moderate and high, the canyon very high
Coastal permits	County of Orange's certified coastal program under a 2001 state law; the city plans its own	Whole village in the Coastal Zone under the city's 2017 program; permits on bluff-edge lots can be appealed to the Coastal Commission

Daily life in each neighborhood

Where you shop, eat and go to the beach on each side of Buck Gully, the canyon between them.

A weathered wooden boardwalk runs between yellow flowering shrubs and tall dry grasses toward a glimpse of the sea — Photo: NorbertNagel, CC BY-SA 4.0

Newport Coast is the Irvine Company's master-planned district in the San Joaquin Hills, built under a 1988 development agreement and part of Newport Beach since January 1, 2002. Most of its villages sit behind guard gates on ridges above Crystal Cove State Park, around Pelican Hill's two golf courses. Everyday errands stay close to home: a Pavilions grocery store at the Newport Coast Shopping Center, restaurants at the Crystal Cove Shopping Center on Coast Highway, and the city's community center on San Joaquin Hills Road, with a gym lined for basketball, volleyball and pickleball.

Corona del Mar is the village on the bluffs east of the harbor entrance, founded in 1904 and part of the city since 1923. Its Flower Streets, Acacia through Poppy, run down to Ocean Boulevard and the two beaches. Coast Highway is the main street, a strip of cafes, boutiques and restaurants, with Bristol Farms at Corona del Mar Plaza across the highway. People walk to the beach and the bakery. The downside is State Route 1 traffic through the middle of the village and side streets that fill up on beach days.

Think about how you want a normal Saturday to go. If you'd rather drive down to the beach from a newer house on a gated street, look at Newport Coast. If you want to walk out the door to the sand and to dinner, look at Corona del Mar, ideally a few blocks off the highway, where the traffic noise mostly fades. You can walk between the two on the 2.55-mile Buck Gully trail. It's open dawn to dusk, and dogs aren't allowed.

Homes and asking prices

What's for sale in each and what drives the price.

People on a small sandy cove below eroded sandstone cliffs, a house on the rocks and boats in the harbor under feathery clouds — Photo: Daniel Sinoca, Unsplash License

Newport Coast was built village by village, and most of it has tile roofs, stucco and slopes kept up by the associations. Custom estates in Pelican Crest, Pelican Hill, Pelican Point and Crystal Cove sit at the top, production houses in the Newport Ridge and Pelican villages make up the core, and condos and townhomes are the way in. In any village, the view lots on the ocean side of a ridge carry the premium, and golf frontage or a Crystal Cove address adds to the price.

Corona del Mar's housing follows its zoning. Much of the old grid is R-2, two units per lot, which is why so many Flower Street lots hold a front house and a rear unit over the garage, often sold as separate condos with "1/2" addresses. The rest runs from original 1920s to 1950s cottages to custom rebuilds. A cottage on a lot that can be rebuilt is priced on land value, and in September 2026 most of the highest asking prices were on Ocean Boulevard above the beach.

As of September 2026, about 50 homes were for sale in Newport Coast. Single-family homes were asking about $3.5 million to $65 million, and condos and townhomes about $1.7 million to $7.5 million. About 45 were for sale in Corona del Mar, where single-family homes were asking about $3.7 million to $40 million, duplexes about $4.5 million to $6.2 million, and condo units started around $1.6 million. Prices start at about the same level, but the top end runs much higher in Newport Coast. When I price a home, I use comps from the same village in Newport Coast and from the same street in Corona del Mar.

Newport Coast houses: about $3.5M to $65M; condos and townhomes about $1.7M to $7.5M (Sept 2026)
Corona del Mar houses: about $3.7M to $40M; duplexes about $4.5M to $6.2M; condos from about $1.6M
Attached homes are the cheaper way into both

What the list price doesn't show

Before you make an offer, check the HOA dues and fire rules in Newport Coast and the coastal rules, parking and rental permits in Corona del Mar.

Crystal Cove State Park bluffs, beach, and coastal scrub looking down the coast — Photo: NorbertNagel, CC BY-SA 4.0

In Newport Coast, start with the monthly cost. There isn't one umbrella association: many owners pay both a master and a village association. HOA dues on September 2026 listings ran about $340 to $1,500 a month, and homes behind the guard gates pay gate costs on top. Assessment districts and a Mello-Roos district helped pay for the roads, sewers, parks, fire station and Newport Coast Elementary, so I read the tax bill and both association budgets before comparing prices.

Then there's fire. In July 2025 the City Council adopted the state's updated fire hazard severity zone maps, which raised the number of very-high-hazard parcels in Newport Beach from 2,825 to 4,247. The way I read that map, most of Newport Coast's hillside villages are in the very high zone. That means 100 feet of defensible space, required seller disclosure and Chapter 7A construction standards for new work, and it affects insurance. At that hearing, the city's fire marshal said there's no way yet for mitigation work to lower an insurer's risk score. In Corona del Mar the village grid is mostly outside the zones, while lots on the Buck Gully rim are rated moderate and high and the canyon itself is very high.

Corona del Mar has its own paperwork. The whole village is in the Coastal Zone, and Ocean Boulevard and the bluff-edge lots sit in the band where the Coastal Commission keeps appeal jurisdiction, so a remodel there takes longer. Short-term rentals need one of the city's capped permits, they're banned in R-1 districts, and new owners join a wait list. Many older lots have only alley access, so confirm what parking conveys. As for flooding, FEMA's map puts every building in the village except two waterfront buildings at China Cove in zone X, minimal hazard. In Newport Coast, coastal permits still follow the County of Orange's certified program under a 2001 state law, so before a remodel, ask the city's planning division which rules apply.

Newport Coast: read both association budgets, gate costs and the tax bill
Newport Coast: get insurance quotes early for a house in the very high fire zone
Corona del Mar: check the zoning, the coastal status and what parking comes with the lot
Both: look up the exact parcel on the 2025 fire hazard map

Schools and getting around

Rocks and tide pools at Little Corona del Mar Beach at sunrise — Photo: Austin Neill, CC0

Both are in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and feed the same combined grade 7-12 campus, Corona del Mar Middle and High School, founded in 1962. The district's school locator assigns Newport Coast's hillside villages to Newport Coast Elementary on Ridge Park Road and sends the Crystal Cove community and Corona del Mar to Harbor View Elementary on Goldenrod Avenue. Sage Hill School, an independent school for grades 7-12, is on Newport Coast Drive. Confirm the school for your exact address with the district.

In Corona del Mar you can walk to the beach stairs, the overlooks on Ocean Boulevard, the cafes on the highway and Harbor View Elementary. From Newport Coast you drive to the beach and to Corona del Mar's shops, but the 73 toll road is right at the top of Newport Coast Drive for Irvine, John Wayne Airport and the 405, and Corona del Mar and Fashion Island are a few minutes down Coast Highway. From Corona del Mar, MacArthur Boulevard and Jamboree Road climb past Fashion Island to the 73, the 405 and the airport.

Homes for sale in Newport Coast

42 active listings in the mapped area

Just listed

$3,825,000

Single-Family3 bd3 ba2,512 sqft

21 Pavona

8 days on market

$8,995,000

Single-Family5 bd6 ba5,010 sqft

8 Star Catcher

10 days on market

$2,985,000

Townhouse3 bd4 ba2,708 sqft

9 Altino

13 days on market

$3,865,000

Single-Family4 bd3 ba2,762 sqft

14 Pavona

15 days on market

$2,398,000

Condo3 bd3 ba1,459 sqft

62 Lessay

17 days on market

$1,799,555

Condo3 bd3 ba1,659 sqft

8 Celano Court

22 days on market

$2,695,000

Condo4 bd2 ba2,474 sqft

16 Talmont

24 days on market

$32,900,000

Single-Family6 bd8 ba9,219 sqft

5 Sailview

24 days on market

$23,995,000

Single-Family6 bd8 ba8,367 sqft

3 Island Vista

24 days on market

$14,795,000

Single-Family5 bd6 ba5,210 sqft

12 Tasman Sea

25 days on market

$2,599,000

Condo3 bd3 ba2,089 sqft

34 Talmont

31 days on market

$23,900,000

Single-Family5 bd6 ba6,400 sqft

11 Spinnaker

36 days on market

$49,995,000

Single-Family7 bd11 ba11,765 sqft

3 Del Mar

40 days on market

$8,250,000

Single-Family3 bd3 ba2,702 sqft

60 Sidney Bay

44 days on market

$13,988,888

Single-Family5 bd7 ba5,200 sqft

9 Coastal Canyon

50 days on market

$1,595,000

Condo3 bd3 ba1,362 sqft

54 Anjou

View all 42 homes on the live map

Still deciding? Ask me.

I’m a Realtor based in Long Beach, and Newport Beach is one of the cities I work most. Tell me what you’re after and I’ll help you get there.

Call (424) 400-9003

Slava Ploshkin · DRE #02323623English and Russian · How I work in Newport Beach

Homes for sale in Corona del Mar

49 active listings in the mapped area

Just listed

$9,700,000

Condo3 bd4 ba2,663 sqft

221 Carnation Avenue

Coming Soon

$7,595,000

Condo3 bd4 ba2,741 sqft

407 Heliotrope Avenue A

Just listed

$2,798,000

Condo2 bd3 ba1,397 sqft

418 1/2 Larkspur

Just listed

$5,250,000

Duplex5 bd6 ba3,108 sqft

707 Larkspur Avenue

8 days on market

$6,495,000

Condo4 bd5 ba2,471 sqft

2501 Seaview Avenue

11 days on market

$13,995,000

Single-Family5 bd7 ba4,649 sqft

224 Iris Avenue

12 days on market

$4,295,000

Single-Family4 bd5 ba3,179 sqft

Duplex5 bd3 ba2,500 sqft

310 Fernleaf

15 days on market

$4,295,000

Single-Family2 bd1 ba804 sqft

508 Orchid

16 days on market

$5,995,000

Single-Family4 bd2 ba1,556 sqft

300 Narcissus

19 days on market

$6,248,000

Duplex4 bd4 ba1,647 sqft

Condo4 bd4 ba1,763 sqft

716 Orchid Avenue

24 days on market

$11,500,000

Single-Family3 bd4 ba3,250 sqft

232 Hazel

35 days on market

$4,850,000

Duplex6 bd6 ba3,032 sqft

602 602.5 Marguerite 2

View all 49 homes on the live map

Questions & answers

They share a middle and high school, so it comes down to the house and your daily routine. Both feed Corona del Mar Middle and High School in Newport-Mesa Unified. Newport Coast gives you newer houses behind gates, Newport Coast Elementary on Ridge Park Road, and the city's community center next to Newport Ridge Community Park. Corona del Mar gives you Harbor View Elementary, plus the beaches and cafes on foot, but the lots are older and there's Coast Highway traffic.

They start at about the same price, but Newport Coast's top end runs much higher. As of September 2026, Newport Coast houses were asking about $3.5 million to $65 million, and condos and townhomes about $1.7 million to $7.5 million. Corona del Mar houses were asking about $3.7 million to $40 million, and condo units started around $1.6 million. In Newport Coast, also budget for HOA dues of about $340 to $1,500 a month.

Parts of both are, but much more of Newport Coast. By my read of the state's 2025 fire hazard map, which the City Council adopted in July 2025, most of Newport Coast's hillside villages are in the very high zone, with high, moderate and unzoned pockets mostly in Newport Ridge and near the highway. Corona del Mar's village grid is mostly outside the zones, but lots on the Buck Gully rim are rated moderate and high. Check the exact parcel on the city's fire map.

Both feed Corona del Mar Middle and High School, a combined grade 7-12 campus in Newport-Mesa Unified. As of September 2026 the district's school locator assigns Newport Coast's hillside villages to Newport Coast Elementary and sends the Crystal Cove community and Corona del Mar to Harbor View Elementary. Sage Hill School, an independent school for grades 7-12, is on Newport Coast Drive. Check your exact address with the district.