RESIDENTIAL
It remains a tale of two markets when talking about Orange County housing.
The median price of an existing home in the county has dropped nearly 38% from the height of the market in 2006. But those price declines aren’t close to being consistent across all areas of the county, according to a study put out last month by Corona del Mar-based Meyers Builders Advisors.
Santa Ana, Anaheim and Garden Grove are seeing larger declines in prices, while coastal communities have fared much better.
Three of the county’s top five performing ZIP codes since 2006 are in Newport Beach and Newport Coast, with price appreciation in those areas ranging from 11% to 73%. Four of the five worst-performing ZIP codes are in Santa Ana.
Homeowners in Santa Ana have seen home values cut in half since the market peak. Likewise, a single-family home in Anaheim lost $243,000 on average since 2006, representing a 71% drop in value, Meyers Builders reports.
Homeowners in these areas were generally entry-level buyers who relied heavily on incomes to meet mortgage payments and put in little or no down payments. On the coast, the majority of buyers in 2006 and 2007 “came in with some equity and did not fin-ance their homes’ entire value,” the report said.
Among areas that have seen large amounts of development recently, Irvine prices have dropped 17% to 20%, while Ladera Ranch home values are down 25% from the peak of the market. Expect more declines in these two areas during the next few years as many homes there were bought with adjustable mortgages that are due to reset soon, Meyers Builders said.
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2840 S. Bristol: building that holds Burlington Coat Factory up for lease |
Highpointe Walks the Talk
Highpointe Communities Inc., an Aliso Viejo-based housing developer, is making a big investment in Palm Desert.
The company bought 212 finished lots in an under-construction gated community called Spanish Walk. The 80-acre development, which will total 400 homes at completion, is next to the California State University, San Bernardino, Palm Desert campus.
The seller was homebuilder Taylor Morrison Inc., part of Britain’s Taylor Wimpey PLC. The price of the sale wasn’t disclosed, although Highpointe officials noted the deal was a cash transaction.
“Many companies in the real estate industry are talking about buying land, but few are actually doing it,” said Steve Vliss, Highpointe chief executive, in a statement.
The company said it plans more acquisitions.
Highpointe, founded in 1997, said it has worked on more than 30 developments to date. Local projects have included the Driftwood Estates development in Laguna Beach.
Irvine-based land brokerage Whittlesey Doyle represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.
COMMERCIAL
One of the country’s largest volleyball clubs is getting larger.
Lake Forest’s Saddleback Valley Volleyball Club, which counts about 50 teams and more than 400 players, recently moved into new space at 26923 Fuerte Drive. The space counts 40-foot ceilings and 50,000 square feet, up from about 30,000 square feet at the club’s old location.
The warehouse is owned and was previously occupied by Lake Forest-based Sole Technology Inc. for its shoe and apparel business. It now leases the building to the volleyball club, which can fit 10 courts in the building, said Becky Carey, who along with her husband George founded the club in 1993. The lease runs for five years.
Greg May, from the Newport Beach office of Grubb & Ellis Co., represented the tenant in the lease, while Don Paul and Marilyn Donovan from Ashwill Associates represented the landlord.
Coat Sale
A 58,280-square-foot retail building in Santa Ana, leased to Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., is up for sale.
The listing price is $17 million, or about $292 per square foot, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. The brokerage’s San Diego office is listing the property for the owner, an Indiana-based group.
Burlington Coat Factory has another 10 years on the lease for the building at 2840 South Bristol St.
