“With an expected market time of 127 days for all of Orange County, this is the coolest December since 2010” for home sales, notes a Dec. 16 report from local housing economist Steven Thomas.
That number of days is about double from a year ago, he says.
As a result, “it’s a slight buyer’s market,” Thomas wrote. “Seller[s] have been calling shots for years, it is now the buyer’s turn.”
We’ll leave the determination on whether that statement is a positive or negative one in the hands of each Business Journal reader, and their interest in buying or selling a house in OC next year.
Regardless, it portends a potential shift for OC’s closely watched housing market going into 2019.
Some stories that we’ve covered in-depth over the course of the nearly decade-long economic expansion should continue next year: new homes at the area’s top master-planned communities will likely continue to sell, albeit perhaps not as briskly as years past; housing appreciation is still in the cards even if it takes longer to sell a home—Chapman University predicts 2.9% growth in median price next year; and rents for commercial properties appear poised to increase again.
Negative signs? There are plenty of potential issues such as rising interest rates and a limit on tax deductions that have the potential to put a crimp on growth in OC’s real estate market next year.
We look forward to covering those issues for our readers in 2019.
COMPANY TO WATCH:
Lincoln Property Co.
The Costa Mesa office of the Dallas-based developer has been one of Orange County’s big property investors during the past couple years. Lincoln will take a more prominent development role here in 2019 as it opens Tustin Legacy’s first big office project, the multibuilding creative-office site called Flight.
The project’s first phase is about 400,000 square feet of offices, in addition to Mess Hall Market, a 12,000-square-foot food hall and conference space.
Lincoln, which is developing the project in a venture with Boston-based real estate private equity firm Alcion Ventures LP, hasn’t announced any occupants.
We’ll be closely tracking leasing activity for the project—likely to be a good barometer of the health of the area’s office market—over the course of the year.
PERSON TO WATCH:
Henry Samueli
Broadcom co-founder Samueli is first and foremost OC’s best-known and wealthiest tech exec, as well as one of the area’s key philanthropists.
It’s the billionaire’s potential real estate moves next year that have peaked our interest—in particular redevelopment plans around the Honda Center, home of his Anaheim Ducks.
Plans spearheaded by Samueli’s business interests that will make their way through the city could prove to be a catalyst for the next big surge of development in the Platinum Triangle.
If Samueli’s real estate moves prove to be a blueprint for Arte Moreno and the city-owned land around the Angel Stadium, perhaps the long-running impasse between the baseball team owner and Anaheim could finally be resolved.
