In the News

Finance, technology, hospitality, entertainment and real estate: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has invested substantially and with great fanfare in all of them, as befits his status as one of the world’s richest men.

He is also believed to be under arrest in his native Saudi Arabia, ensnared in an anti-corruption dragnet that also pulled in 10 other Saudi princes, four sitting Cabinet members and “tens” of former Cabinet members.

High demand continues to be the trend for Long Beach’s residential and industrial real estate markets, while office and retail space have remained relatively flat. Coupled with a lack of supply, particularly in the industrial and residential markets, prices continue to creep upward.

The extreme multifamily rent growth in Los Angeles is beginning to slow, and while rent growth is still substantial, we couldn’t help but wonder how the deceleration of growth is impacting vacancy rates. It stands to reason—especially considering that L.A. has been pegged as a city with a severe housing shortage—that vacancy rates would decline in response. We asked Richard Green, director of the USC Luck Center, how the slowed rental rate growth is expected to impact vacancy rates, and he pondered the idea that we may be hitting a supply equilibrium.

An overall reduction in multifamily construction continues to push San Diego County towards higher rents, so suggests data presented by the recently released USC Lusk 2017 Multifamily Forecast Report. The study, which surveys multifamily conditions in the Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Ventura submarkets, suggested that historically low multifamily construction conditions nationwide will continue pushing rents higher. “(Here) we are, seven years into an economic recovery, and we still do not see new residential construction returning to normal levels”.

The Republican tax plan released Thursday seeks to dramatically rewrite rules that have shaped the housing market for decades, potentially dealing a blow to California, where a shortage of housing has led to some of the highest home prices in the nation.

Under current law, homeowners can deduct interest paid on as much as $1 million in mortgage debt. Republicans would allow that to remain for existing loans, but for new purchases, owners would be able to deduct only the interest paid on the first $500,000.

Healthy employment, a growing population, more millennials entering the market and the high price of single-family homes are expected to push demand for multifamily housing upward and keep homeownership rates low throughout Los Angeles County, according to a new report from Beacon Economics and the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.

Rising demand for housing in Koreatown and Mid-Wilshire coupled with a glut in the office supply has Jamison Services Inc. seeing new opportunities in residential real estate.

The neighborhood’s major office space player for a quarter century will have converted 800,000 square feet of offices into apartments over six years by 2019, said Garrett Lee, president of Jamison.

Average apartment rents in San Diego are expected to rise $121 a month by 2019 because building is not keeping pace with job and population growth.

That was the conclusion of the University of Southern California‘s annual Casden Economic Forecast, which was released Wednesday.

The report noted that San Diego County added 17,200 jobs from July 2016 to July 2017, and its population has increased 1.5 percent since 2015.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — There’s no end in sight for Southern California’s housing crisis after a new study found that rent increases will continue into 2019.

The new report from USC and Beacon Economics shows the robust economy and accompanying employment numbers, combined with a lull in homeownership, will force monthly rents to increase over 2017 levels by as much as $149 in Orange County and $136 in Los Angeles County.

Developers Should Be Forming Longer Strategies
USC Lusk Center chairman recommends developing a 10-, 15- or 30-year strategy to mitigate against obsolesce in new construction.
Kelsi Maree Borland