New communities in Portola Springs

Non-native buyers aren't the only group buying in Irvine. Orange County now supports a sizable base of highly compensated individuals working in industries from tech to real estate to financial services. Look to neighboring Los Angeles County for where housing prices can go. I pick Cheviot Hills as an example of an older neighborhood that is centrally located to high paying jobs in WLA. Most people would not consider Cheviot Hills high end but homes there sell for over $1,000/sf and rebuilds selling in the $3 million range are not unusual. Everything is relative.

Very true, I've helped dozens of native buyers who relocated to Irvine from other areas like LA, the Bay Area, Seattle, NY, Boston, Texas, etc buy homes in Irvine and many of which used large down payments (30-60%) to purchase their homes. Then there are the move-up buyers and buyers that go from one new home community to another.
 
Irvine is a strong market and I doubt that prices will go down for new builds especially not until the FCB's stop buying in Irvine which I don't see happening anytime soon.

We've already observed price dip in the previous cycle, which Irvine was not immune to. But for certain desirable areas the dip was around 1/3 (more for condos) vs 1/2 for lesser desirable areas of LA/OC. Those hoping for big drops in desirable areas will be disappointed.

I'll use Cerritos as an example:


Cerritos is considered a desirable area for many Asians. The property cited was sold for $675k near bubble peak in 2006, dropping to $450K near bubble cycle button in 2011, approx. 1/3 drop from peak. There were some potential buyers then who thought the price would continue to decline, but the reality is that prices rebounded after 2012 and that house is now valued at $1 million. If we go into another RE down cycle from 2024 I'd expect this house to dip down to $650k-$700K at bottom, good luck fighting against 30 other bidders. Yup, I was there in 2012 trying to buy a house in Cerritos and was up against 20-30 other bidders every time. Some sellers received over 30 bids and just stopped accepting new bids.

People like to blame FCB's but it's more than that. Cerritos today - and in 2012, was less attractive to FCB's than Irvine. But many owners in Cerritos are lifers who don't want to sell, enabled by prop 13 with low taxes. So adding low inventory to the relatively high desirability factor, prevents the home price from dropping as much vs other parts of LA/OC county like as Norwalk, Downey, & Santa Ana where homes dropped 1/2 from peak in previous down cycle.

Because Cerritos has so many lifers, young families can't afford to move in and the schools are running short on students. So if you live in nearby "less desirable" cities you can now send your kids to schools in Cerritos. @_@?

This is how I envision Irvine down the road.
 
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The difference between 2008 and now is that many current owners are extremely well positioned. Those who bought before COVID refinanced to sub 3%, close to, if not at 2%, even. Those who bought after COVID put down 30% to 60%, as Martin stated. So even if the economy were to go south, which seems less likely at this point, we won't see many wanting to sell. As a result, inventory levels will stay low. At this point, I would say that the only people selling are move-up buyers.
 
The difference between 2008 and now is that many current owners are extremely well positioned. Those who bought before COVID refinanced to sub 3%, close to, if not at 2%, even. Those who bought after COVID put down 30% to 60%, as Martin stated. So even if the economy were to go south, which seems less likely at this point, we won't see many wanting to sell. As a result, inventory levels will stay low. At this point, I would say that the only people selling are move-up buyers.
I refinanced into a 1.99% 15 year loan in the summer of 2021. I don’t see a scenario in which we ever sell this home. We will just pass it down to our kids.
 
Do you guys think if Prop 13 was to only apply to primary residences, and/or extra taxes on corporations buying SFHs, it would drive prices down? Those are two things I see potentially happening in my lifetime, but i'm not sure it would even do all that much. Maybe some investors might bail and put more money in index funds, but people will still buy houses.
 
Half of Azul new release is reserved. These prices look like a steal compared to Olivewood. 😂
 

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How come Azul can't sell plan 2 but olivewood always gets sold right away
If we're just comparing Azul Plan 2 to Olivewood Plan 2, then there's perhaps an explanation. In the first release Olivewood Plan 2 was a view lot. In the second release, both Plans 2 were priced around $2.5M, and in the last release, Plan 2 was another view lot.

Azul just released this phase last week. We'll see how long it'd take for the remaining homes to sell.

Another thing is that Olivewood is a new community and it's a better location than Azul and Cielo, so there's more excitement about it. What's benefiting Azul right now is that Cielo has closed the priority list and Olivewood's pricing is getting ridiculous. Azul sales said that more agents are bringing their clients to Azul due to these reasons.
 
I am not sure if people realize considering the prices here people are paying $30K in annual property taxes with a $2.4M house. I know a lot of people complain about property taxes in Great Park but this is crazy as well since the sale prices being high just drive up the higher property taxes.
 
I am not sure if people realize considering the prices here people are paying $30K in annual property taxes with a $2.4M house. I know a lot of people complain about property taxes in Great Park but this is crazy as well since the sale prices being high just drive up the higher property taxes.
People complain about unnecessary Mello-Roos at GP, not property taxes. Homes at Altair sell for $3M to $4M. How much property taxes are they going to pay? For a $3M home, they're not paying $30k, but somewhere close to $45k. Also, a $2.4M home in other parts of Irvine, you only pay $28k, not $30k. MR for other parts of Irvine (EW, OH, PS) is fixed at $4k.
 
The difference between 2008 and now is that many current owners are extremely well positioned. Those who bought before COVID refinanced to sub 3%, close to, if not at 2%, even. Those who bought after COVID put down 30% to 60%, as Martin stated. So even if the economy were to go south, which seems less likely at this point, we won't see many wanting to sell. As a result, inventory levels will stay low. At this point, I would say that the only people selling are move-up buyers.

The majority of sellers out there now are flippers, move-up buyers who need more space, and sellers relocating out of the area.
 
People complain about unnecessary Mello-Roos at GP, not property taxes. Homes at Altair sell for $3M to $4M. How much property taxes are they going to pay? For a $3M home, they're not paying $30k, but somewhere close to $45k. Also, a $2.4M home in other parts of Irvine, you only pay $28k, not $30k. MR for other parts of Irvine (EW, OH, PS) is fixed at $4k.
Not sure how you are getting $45K number from. If someone pays same $2.4M in Altair for comparison sake you are paying $24K plus $11K extra so it would be $35K in property taxes. You cannot compare a $2.4M value house to a $4M value house as based on tax rate they will pay higher property taxes.
 
We've already observed price dip in the previous cycle, which Irvine was not immune to. But for certain desirable areas the dip was around 1/3 (more for condos) vs 1/2 for lesser desirable areas of LA/OC. Those hoping for big drops in desirable areas will be disappointed.

I'll use Cerritos as an example:


Cerritos is considered a desirable area for many Asians. The property cited was sold for $675k near bubble peak in 2006, dropping to $450K near bubble cycle button in 2011, approx. 1/3 drop from peak. There were some potential buyers then who thought the price would continue to decline, but the reality is that prices rebounded after 2012 and that house is now valued at $1 million. If we go into another RE down cycle from 2024 I'd expect this house to dip down to $650k-$700K at bottom, good luck fighting against 30 other bidders. Yup, I was there in 2012 trying to buy a house in Cerritos and was up against 20-30 other bidders every time. Some sellers received over 30 bids and just stopped accepting new bids.

People like to blame FCB's but it's more than that. Cerritos today - and in 2012, was less attractive to FCB's than Irvine. But many owners in Cerritos are lifers who don't want to sell, enabled by prop 13 with low taxes. So adding low inventory to the relatively high desirability factor, prevents the home price from dropping as much vs other parts of LA/OC county like as Norwalk, Downey, & Santa Ana where homes dropped 1/2 from peak in previous down cycle.

Because Cerritos has so many lifers, young families can't afford to move in and the schools are running short on students. So if you live in nearby "less desirable" cities you can now send your kids to schools in Cerritos. @_@?

This is how I envision Irvine down the road.
You mean one can live in Artesia or Norwalk and send your kid to Whitney? What a edu-hack!
 
Rates were around 4% right before COVID and I expect that we'll see a 4 handle at some point in the next few years. The Fed will slow the economy down and will continue with the QT even with the rate cuts. As Powell said, inflation was more of a supply issue than it was a huge demand issue (we can see that in the real estate market with the lack of resale inventory).
Dude - why are banks going to magically compress spreads that are already 250bps over the 10 yr right now for the best borrowers? 4% rates were before SVB went belly up over duration risk from low interest jumbo mortgages. I know a CRE license carries no fiduciary reqs but you're doing your clients a disservice if you're telling them with all your knowledge and experience and degrees and understanding of Irvine RE and the mortgage markets that they'll ever see a 4 handle; that or you really don't have a clue as to how the Fed is managing their balance sheet and how likely that dot plot is to end up really happening. Even if Powell actually comes through with an election year rate cut for Crooked Joe mortgage lenders aren't going to drop their spreads. If anything I see them going higher. Basel 3 is going to be very impactful here as well.
 
Not sure how you are getting $45K number from. If someone pays same $2.4M in Altair for comparison sake you are paying $24K plus $11K extra so it would be $35K in property taxes. You cannot compare a $2.4M value house to a $4M value house as based on tax rate they will pay higher property taxes.
I said $3M, not $2.4M, because you're not going to find any Altair homes at $2.4M. Still, we can do apples to apples comparison, if you like. A $3M home at PS (most of new constructions at PS are going to reach this price soon, if not already) will bring $34k in property taxes while a $3M home at Altair will bring $45k in property taxes.
 
yes. renting making the most sense; my napkin math shows rent would be half of the PITI (20% down) or less for houses at this price range.
The only issue with renting is that you don't own equity. And at this price range, 20% down won't do. It will require 40% to 50% down. However, at the current interest rates, renting is probably still half of the PITI even with 40% down. 😂
 
With stock market rising... there could be a case to put your 20% into investments and rent.

It just depends on what you want to do.

For those who want to move up, you could cash out now, invest, rent and then buy again later when rates are lower... but there is the capital gains tax (I'm sure many are over $500k at these prices)... so maybe many are staying put and hoping that a change in legislation to capital gains will be more favorable and cash out later.
 
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