Sales totals at Orange County’s largest master-planned communities fell by more than 50% in 2018 amid the close-out of some larger projects in the area, according to a new report from John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
The top best-selling communities in the area, the Irvine Ranch, Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine, and Rancho Mission Viejo in South OC, sold about 2,090 homes in 2018, according to the Irvine-based consultancy’s preliminary report on the country’s top 50 best-selling housing projects for last year.
In 2017, those three projects, along with Lake Forest’s Baker Ranch, totaled more than 3,700 sales. Baker Ranch is now largely sold out and did not make the latest edition of the rankings.
The Irvine Ranch retained its position as the best-selling master-planned community in Orange County and California last year with an estimated 1,000 sales, according to the John Burns Consulting report. It was the fifth-best selling community in the country.
In 2017, more than 1,800 sales were made at the various projects going up on the Irvine Ranch.
Rancho Mission Viejo ranked No. 12 in the country with an estimated 610 sales last year, slightly above 2017 figures.
Great Park Neighborhoods, which kicked off sales at Cadence Park in mid-2018 and has another community in the works that could open this year, sold an estimated 480 homes in 2018, good for the No. 20 spot but down from 830 sales in 2017, according to the John Burns report’s preliminary data.
Three of the five best-selling communities in the state last year were in OC.
On a national basis, the top 50 master-planned communities totaled about 28,000 sales, up slightly from 2017 levels.
— Mark Mueller
Acquisitions
Select Interior Concepts Inc. (Nasdaq: SIC), an Anaheim-based building products and services company, said it bought T.A.C. Ceramic Tile Co., an installer of residential and light commercial flooring, for $43 million cash.
Founded in 1985, T.A.C. has annual sales of about $70 million. It specializes in design center selections and installation of all types of interior flooring surfaces, including tile, hardwood and carpet. It primarily serves national, regional and local builders, along with retail clients in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia through two design centers located in the Metro D.C. area.
“We have gained exposure to highly attractive markets in the Mid-Atlantic region, where T.A.C. has an established presence for designing and installing high-quality flooring systems,” Select Interior Chief Executive Tyrone Johnson said in a statement.
Select Interior reported revenue rose 35% to $127.6 million for the three months ended Sept. 30.
— Peter J. Brennan
Last week, Home Franchise Concepts in Irvine bought AdvantaClean in Huntersville, N.C., on undisclosed term, its fourth home improvement franchise system.
It already owned Budget Blinds, Tailored Living and Concrete Craft.
AdvantaClean franchisees provide mold remediation, water damage restoration, and duct and vent cleaning services in 230 markets in 37 states.
HFC’s other concepts sell window coverings, home organizing, and floor design franchises.
With the buy, it has 1,700 territories in North America, with systemwide sales of roughly $700 million and revenue of more than $50 million.
Systemwide sales are the total dollar value of transactions; revenue to HFC comes largely from franchise fees on that business. AdvantaClean franchises sell for $49,000, more than twice the price of each of the other three.
Equity investor Trilantic Capital Partners LP in New York bought most of HFC from its five founders in 2015. It typically puts $50 million to $250 million into firms with an enterprise value of up to $1 billion.
— Paul Hughes
