Gold Coast Joins In County’s Q1 Home-Price Party
Beazer Building on the Water in Ventura; Clothing Distributor Shifting Fullerton Warehouse
REAL ESTATE by Daniel D. Williams
RESIDENTIAL
It was another quarter of big gains in home prices, according to a report from the Orange Coast Association of Realtors in Newport Beach.
“While home sales across the nation remain strong despite limited availability in many areas, first quarter sales in figures in Orange County’s Gold Coast prove to be particularly robust,” said Patricia Moore, executive vice president of the Orange Coast Association of Realtors.
The Gold Coast includes Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Newport Coast and Laguna Beach.
The price of a Newport Beach home rose 10.5% to $740,000, while Costa Mesa homes saw a 16% increase in prices to $349,000 compared to last March.
The number of homes sold had a nice uptick, too, climbing 27% to 360 in Newport Beach and 14% to 225 in Costa Mesa.
According to Moore, several factors led to the strong gains, including population growth, low interest rates and a resilient OC economy.
The biggest gains were made with homes priced in the $600,000 to $1 million range, which accounted for about 70% of the homes sold in Newport Beach. Homes priced at $1 million-plus made up 25% of sales there.
Further good news for homesellers: Newport Beach and Costa Mesa homes sold for 95% of their listed price.
“Real Estate continues to be one of the safest and most reliable forms of investment one can make,” Moore said.
Moore said she expects OC to remain a prime investment spot in the foreseeable future.
Not all the news was peachy. Sales of condominiums and townhomes rose at only a modest rate in OC.
Forty-two more condos and townhomes have been sold in the Newport Beach/Costa Mesa areas compared to the same period last year, but that value rose only slightly in Costa Mesa and actually declined in Newport Beach.
Beazer Building in Ventura
The Orange office of Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA Inc. is planning to build in the Westport at Mandalay Bay masterplanned community in Ventura County.
Beazer plans to build Mediterranean-style townhomes and duplexes.
Prices start around $350,000 for the townhomes, which are 1,700 to 2,000 square feet. The duplex villas are priced at about $450,000 at the low end and are from 2,300 to 2,605 square feet. Models are set to open later this year.
The community is within the Channel Islands harbor and is dubbed Oxnard’s only waterfront community. Grading and excavation of water canals is under way. Westport at Mandalay Bay is set to have 306 townhomes and duplexes.
COMMERCIAL
Recent activity suggests that a sluggish industrial market is showing signs of recovery.
Staton Wholesale, a Dallas-based clothing distributor, recently leased 87,000 square feet of industrial space in Fullerton in a deal valued at $2.6 million.
Plans call for Staton to relocate its West Coast warehouse and distribution operations from a nearby Fullerton site to the new digs. Staton is moving from 701 Burning Tree Road to 2100 E. Valencia Drive, taking up about 30% of a 268,000-square-foot industrial building.
Besides Fullerton, Staton also runs warehouses in Chicago, Dallas, Orlando and Memphis.
Staton distributes apparel to screen printers and embroiderers offering T-shirts, sport shirts, fleece wear, jackets and headwear.
Jeff Chiate and Rick Ellison with the Irvine office of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented Staton in the deal. Louis Tomaselli and Mitch Zehner of Voit Commercial Brokerage’s Anaheim office acted on behalf of landlord Catellus Development Corp., a San Francisco-based real estate development company.
Bits and Pieces:
CB Richard Ellis Services Inc.’s Newport Beach office brokered an Irvine Spectrum deal for State Farm Insurance Cos.’ auto insurance arm. State Farm sold its 16,015-square-foot building at 2 Osborn St. in Irvine to Sterling America. Chip Wright and Barry Knudson of CB Richard Ellis’ Newport Beach office and Tracy Rasmussen of its Beverly Hills office represented State Farm. Bryan O’Hira of Irvine-based Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services Inc.’s Newport Beach office represented the buyer, Sterling America First Federal Bank of California wrapped up a $3.2 million financing deal for a large single-tenant industrial building in Fullerton.
