 By KEVIN COSTELLOE
Home prices in Orange County will likely decline somewhat by the end of next year while local employment is expected to rise 5%, Chapman University economists led by President Emeritus Jim Doti are forecasting.
Doti and his team released their 44th Annual Economic Forecast today in the Musco Center for the Arts at the university in Orange.
The projected employment rise compares to 3% this year, but that is forecast to slow by the end of 2022.
Looking nationally, the Chapman economists also forecast next year’s economic growth will be 4.4%, or twice the normal rate, while signs point to possible recession in 2023. Consumer prices are predicted to continue their steep rise, with an inflation rate of 6.3% heading toward the middle of next year.
The economists said OC has an “extremely tight housing market” shown by the historically low average number of days it takes to sell a home.
At the same time, an expected increase in mortgage interest rates will push existing median single-family home prices down by 3.3% in the final three months of 2022 compared to the current quarter, according to the Chapman forecast.
For further details, please see the Dec. 20 edition of the Business Journal.
