Rents Weaken, Investors Stay Active in San Diego Multifamily Market

By Daniel J. HoganThe economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt more severely in Southern California than in most areas of the country. The Southland’s high concentration of employment in the tourism and entertainment sectors made it especially vulnerable to the effects of social distancing protocols and the reluctance of many to board commercial aircraft.Not only were job losses particularly acute in the initial months of the pandemic — the subsequent recovery has been …

October 5, 2020California, Content Partner, Features, Lument, Multifamily, RED Capital Group, Western, Western Feature Archive

In Search of Relative Value in Orange County’s Apartment Sector

Orange County offers residents all the key elements of the American dream. Its virtues are numerous and faults few. Indeed, Moody’s Analytics ranks the quality of life in the OC 10th highest among the 378 U.S. metros it reports on, just a half-step behind leaders Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz.Orange County is a terrific place to live, but is it a good place to invest? Gauging by observed capitalization rate trends, one may conclude that county apartment properties are highly prized gems. …

September 24, 2020California, Content Partner, Lument, Multifamily, RED Capital Group, Western, Western Feature Archive, Western Market Reports

Yelp: 61 Percent of Restaurants Closed Due to Pandemic Won’t Open Again

SAN FRANCISCO — A majority of U.S. restaurants and cafés that closed their doors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will remain closed for good, according to crowd-source review giant Yelp.In its September economic impact report, the San Francisco-based firm tallied 32,109 restaurants that were open and operating on March 1 were closed on Aug. 31. Of that total, 19,590 (61 percent) indicated they were permanently closed.Yelp tracks business closures via business owners marking …

September 18, 2020California, Features, Leasing Activity, Restaurant, Retail, Western, Western Feature Archive

The Inland Empire: A Rare 2020 Apartment Sector Success Story

Someone once remarked that eighty percent of success in life is just showing up. Human experience verifies that being in the right place at the right time often is the intangible ingredient that leads to triumph. The strong performance this year of the Inland Empire multifamily market is a variation on this theme. During the pandemic, many renters sought refuge from the high density and high costs associated with big city life, and the work-from-home phenomenon made this objective feasible. For …

September 15, 2020California, Content Partner, Lument, Multifamily, RED Capital Group, Western, Western Feature Archive

Coming Attraction: The Great Los Angeles Multifamily Recovery

Reducing the Los Angeles economy to the entertainment industry would be a serious mistake. In fact, the L.A. labor market is highly diversified with world-class healthcare, professional services, biotech and technology clusters providing co-sector leadership — no one-trick pony is this.Nonetheless, the entertainment industry is the single element that separates this metro economy from all others, and its tentacles are long. In its absence, the metro’s financial and professional …

September 9, 2020California, Content Partner, Features, Lument, Multifamily, RED Capital Group, Western, Western Feature Archive

Rumors of the Death of Silicon Valley’s Apartment Market are Greatly Exaggerated

Some stories are just too good not to be true. This may explain in part the outpouring of reports regarding population outflows from the San Francisco Bay Area. Multiple mid-August articles in national newspapers took up the ongoing Silicon Valley exodus. These articles make a convincing case that the COVID-19 pandemic and increased opportunities to work remotely — particularly in the high-tech industry — are prompting many Bay Area residents to consider relocating to more affordable areas, …

August 24, 2020California, Content Partner, Features, Lument, Multifamily, RED Capital Group, Western, Western Feature Archive

San Francisco Multifamily Trends: The Downside of Demand Inelasticity

In economics, the sensitivity of aggregate demand for a product or service to changes in price is defined as its “elasticity.” The elasticity of demand for nonessential goods or goods with a number of ready substitutes is high. Even a small increase in price will produce a large decrease in demand. Conversely, a relatively large price change in the cost of an essential or prized luxury good for which few substitutes exist may have little effect on demand for it.San Francisco real estate …

August 13, 2020California, Content Partner, Features, Lument, Multifamily, RED Capital Group, Western, Western Feature Archive

IRS Notice Extends Identification, Exchange Deadlines for 1031 Deals Falling Between April 1 and July 15

Many real estate investors seeking tax deferral in a 1031 exchange, as well as owners contemplating a sale of an investment property in the near future and intending to perform a 1031 exchange, have been anxiously awaiting guidance from the IRS on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the time deadlines in an exchange.On April 9, 2020 the IRS issued Notice 2020-23, which extended many deadlines for real estate investors affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, including Section 1031 exchange …

April 16, 2020Acquisitions, California, Features, Western, Western Feature Archive

‘Titleman’ John Lotardo Says Buyers, Sellers Seek Solutions to Obstacles for Closings During Time of Pandemic

Closing deals in the current environment — or even getting them to progress — has been challenging for the past few weeks. Municipalities are struggling to keep up with volume, and online notarization is present in some states but not others. Western Real Estate Business recently spoke with John Lotardo, senior vice president and director of operations for Commonwealth National Title Insurance Co. based in Arizona.Lotardo, also known as the Titleman, spoke to WREB about how commercial …

April 16, 2020Acquisitions, Arizona, Features, Western, Western Feature Archive

Free Returns: How Reverse Logistics Impacts Industrial Real Estate

The industrial sector has been the preferred asset class of commercial real estate in recent years. "The rate of return for industrial real estate has been higher than that of any other class for nearly half a decade," says Jeff Rinkov, CEO of Lee & Associates.These rates of return are the result of permanent changes in consumer behavior and preferences — and recent events are driving more rapid changes in consumers’ e-commerce shopping.[caption id="attachment_258636" …

April 2, 2020Content Partner, Features, Industrial, Lee & Associates, Northeast Feature Archive, Retail, Western Feature Archive