You should look at home price growth for California in the last 15 years, Irvine isn't even in the top. The Bay Area, parts of LA and San Diego lead the pack in price increases.
You might not be aware because you haven't looked for a home in the last 10 years?
You can’t look at aggregate city trends, especially given that it is trendy for builders to focus on high end or luxury.
According to redfin the city I live in (adjacent to Irvine) is in the top 10 in California but that is only because there have been a rapid rise of new developments that are significantly more sq ft than the average house.
The right metric is to check YoY model matches in various neighborhoods to see, but that isn’t reported on.
You might not be aware because you haven't looked for a home in the last 10 years?