Housing affordability in 2016: Increasing rents, home prices will drive more people away from O.C.

OC Register ^ | 1/3/2016 | JEFF COLLINS

[Pelham]

Xochitl Collazo won't be spending 2016 in Orange County, her home of three decades.

Instead, the longtime Santa Ana resident plans to move in with a friend in central Arizona, driven away by unaffordable rents and high health insurance premiums.

"It just doesn't make sense for me to be struggling like that anymore," said Collazo, 36, who could barely afford her $1,000-a-month rent from what she earned managing a Mission Viejo doctor's office. "What am I supposed to do? Have no savings? Have nothing? It literally makes no sense."

If forecasters are right, there's little relief in sight for Orange County residents who, like Collazo, struggle to find affordable housing.

Rents, home prices and home sales all are projected to rise even more in 2016, albeit perhaps at a slower pace than in 2015...

Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said that because Orange County is such a sought-after market, housing here "will always be expensive."

And if you think buying or renting a home is hard, try finding affordable office, industrial or retail space. Commercial real estate prices, like their residential counterpart, also are projected to continue 2015's upswing in rent and sales prices as vacancies continue to drop, analysts say...

Chapman University economic forecasters predict that the median price will rise another 2.5 percent in 2016, while Cal State Fullerton projects an increase in the 4 percent to 6 percent range this year.

That could put Orange County's year-end median price for an existing single-family home in the $729,000 to $754,000 range.

Most economists cite continued job growth as the source of rising sales and prices.

Another factor: The inventory of homes for sale - already running below normal levels - ended 2015 at a 21/2-year low.

[MoochPooch]

It’s a very pretty place, at least within view of the Pacific it is. A lot of people want to live there, there are jobs to be had. But the expense is bizarre.

My cousin (Newport Beach) and my stepmother (Laguna Woods) were lucky to move there years ago. They would probably appreciate this article. Ironically, the reason my stepmother is there is because after my dad's retirement they couldn't find affordable housing in Los Angeles.

[Pelham]

“Odd. That sounds like a pretty average rent.”

It’s actually very low for OC. Being in Santa Ana you can be certain that the home is in the barrio, where garages typically have been converted into extra rooms to rent. Makes for very crowded neighborhoods. The city fathers turn a deaf ear to neighbors who want zoning and building codes enforced.

[Pelham]

From what I read Anaheim has joined Santa Ana in being majority latino, much of it illegals.