The supply of homes cannot keep up with demand, which remains high, partly due to low mortgage interest rates. “There are no big parcels of land left,” says Delores Conway, director of the Casden Forecast for the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate. “Playa Vista in West Los Angeles represents the last major developable area with significant acreage. This shortage of land is leading to urban landfill and mixed-use development in many parts of the metropolis. Also, the affordability problem is leading to a wave of condominium conversions, because condominiums are more affordable than single-family homes. New construction of beach-area lofts has appeared in Santa Monica and Venice. “It’s significant,” concludes Conway of the USC Lusk Center. “Westside lofts would have been unheard of five years ago.”
September 1, 2005