A meeting with members of the Orange-based Pacific West Association of Realtors earlier this month emphasized a truism: the dynamics of the local housing market vary by city.
Sales in Santa Ana are outpacing those in Irvine in recent months, a big swing in the area’s demand from recent years, said Michael Hickman, president and general manager of Tustin’s Seven Gables Real Estate.
“Everything has become more localized,” Hickman said.
The variety of mortgages used to finance homes is increasing, agents said.
For upscale Santa Ana homes, which run as much as $1.5 million, nearly half of the homebuyers are sticking with traditional mortgages with 20% down payments. Meanwhile, about a quarter of buyers are using riskier 100% financed mortgages, said Sandy DeAngelis, an agent for Seven Gables.
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New homes in Santa Ana: half of homebuyers using traditional mortgages |
First-time homebuyers make up the majority of customers for Hamid Kharrat, district manager for Tarbell, Realtors in Anaheim. Buyers in Anaheim largely are sticking with 100% financed mortgages, he said.
Despite slower sales, members of Pacific West Association, headed by President Bill Nelson of Signature Properties of Orange County, remain upbeat. The agents I met with still expect to see home prices here rise 2% to 7% this year.
“This has always been a market that’s been imbalanced,” Hickman said. “Now, we’re seeing a flat market,supply and demand are in balance, and the icing on the cake is (low) interest rates.”
“Buyers have become more serious” in recent months, Kharrat said. “They’ve been waiting three or four months for values to drop.”
As of January, resale homes in the county are staying on the market about 84 days, up about 30 days from a year ago. Those sold in January went for about $427 per square foot, according to Seven Gables figures. Since late 2005, the high per square foot was set in April, at $456. The low was $414 in October.
Imperial Canyon Center, a 55,300-square-foot shopping center in Anaheim Hills, has a new owner.
The center, on Santa Canyon Road off the Riverside (91) Freeway at Imperial Highway, was sold for $16.7 million, or about $302 per square foot.
Ken McLeod and Parker Douglass of Grubb & Ellis Co.’s West Los Angeles office represented both parties in the deal. The names of the local buyer and seller weren’t disclosed.
The shopping center was built in 1978 and is nearly full. Tenants include Wells Fargo, Sylvan Learning Center, Domino’s Pizza, Edward Jones and Don Jose Restaurant.
Bixby Sales Begin
Newport Beach-based Bixby Land Co. has started selling some of its older retail holdings as the developer has turned its attention to building and buying industrial properties.
Bixby just sold a 17,832-square-foot shopping center on Bellflower Boulevard in Long Beach, the first of roughly 18 properties it is looking to unload. The center, anchored by Wendy’s and Dunn-Edwards Paints, went for $7.5 million with a 5.9% capitalization rate. The center had been listed at $6.8 million.
Phil Voorhees, Patrick Toomey, Megan Wood and Holly Hamilton of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.’s Newport Beach office represented Bixby.
Drug store operator Walgreen Co. bought the center. It’s considering building a store at the center or converting an existing building, Voorhees said.
Hopkins Breaks Ground
Irvine developer Hopkins Real Estate Group is kicking off construction on a 523,000-square-foot shopping center in Palmdale.
Palmdale Gateway, on a 50 acre-parcel on the east side of the city, will be home to Super Target and Home Depot, along with other shops, restaurants and banks. It will be the largest shopping center in East Palmdale, according to the developer.
The $70 million project will start to go up in four months. Super Target is scheduled to open by October, said Brian Hopkins, vice president and development manager for Hopkins Real Estate. The remainder of the project should be completed in two phases during 2008.
Hopkins is working with partner Rockwood Capital of San Francisco on the project. Closer to home, Hopkins has retail projects under way in La Habra and San Clemente.
