OC’s new home market saw a 10% drop in sales volume last year (see story, page 1), but the region’s multifamily future remains bright.
About 4,000 new apartment units were delivered locally last year and another 5,100 are in the pipeline for 2019 and 2020, according to a news report from the Irvine office of brokerage JLL.
This compares to 5,000 homes built and sold in OC last year.
OC “has established itself as one of the most fundamentally sound multifamily markets in the nation,” the report said, noting the county has seen historical rent growth of more than 4% and occupancy averaging 96%.
Rents grew 2.3% last year, according to JLL and can go higher: average rents account for 29% of median household income, “well below the national average of 40%, leaving plenty of room for future rent growth.”
Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle and the Irvine Business Complex near John Wayne Airport remain the top two spots for large-scale development:
• Irving, Texas-based JPI has several projects underway in Anaheim, part of nearly 1,300 new units coming soon to the area around Angel Stadium.
• IBC has 1,750 units in some form of construction, including large projects by Garden Communities of San Diego and Irvine’s Sanderson J. Ray.
Developers have built 26,500 apartment units in OC since 2010, JLL’s research shows. 2017 was the most active year, with nearly 5,000 new units added.
