The past weeks have provided some news that could lift the outlook of Costa Mesa landlords and those who’ve been thinking about rental real estate as an investment. The reports surfaced from statistics compiled by the Census Bureau and by rentcafe.com—an internet company that tracks the current U.S. rental market. Both pieces of information shed light on the makeup of the renter population. It’s broadening in ways that can’t help but boost the prospects for the rental market as a whole.

The first encouraging information was last month’s finding that the percentage of high-income households opting to become renters increased 175% over the past decade. The number of households earning $150,000 or more who decided to become renters swelled by…

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A couple of storylines have dominated national real estate news outlets for more than a year. Costa Mesa homeowners who are less industry-focused have been hearing the same thing from the national news media, too. Last week, they both staged a partial about-face.

The storylines are interconnected. The dominant one dealt with the national trend toward a weakening in the number of homes being sold. About a year ago, both new and existing home sales numbers began to falter. This wasn’t enough of a drop to cause genuine consternation—but it was persistent enough to generate headlines.

The reason that potential Costa Mesa home buyers and sellers weren’t overly concerned was partially due to the second storyline, which focused on the fact that…

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Baby Boomers

Overall, the U.S. residential market has behaved itself predictably for a couple of years. As a result, there’s been little chance for commentators to point out any new phenomena that might affect our own Costa Mesa listings. In general, price growth has remained moderate while the volume of homes changing hands has been relatively quiet.

That might be headed for a change if CNBC’s Diana Oleck is right. In a brief report last week, she made the case for a new trend that could have an effect on the home-selling picture—including the number of our own Costa Mesa listings.

The trend is an uptick in one choice seniors are making—in this case, the tendency of retirees to stay put in their current home. “Why seniors ‘aging in place’ is affecting home…

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Costa Mesa real estate activity may not necessarily reflect national trends, but anytime U.S. news media pick up on an interesting storyline that includes the phrase “home sales” (either “existing” or “new”), that can have an effect on how future Costa Mesa buyers and sellers approach their own plans. Last week there was one of those stories.

It followed the release of December’s home sales numbers, which declined by 6.4%. This was truly an unusually large decline—though hardly the “plunge” that “Stuns Real Estate Agents” (the Newsmax headline).

CNBC, which usually offers a more steady-as-she-goes viewpoint in its Realty Check column, also reported that the drop in home sales “has real estate agents baffled.” They thought the agents’…

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Costa Mesa ears that were attuned to some of the nation’s commentators might have heard that last year’s gradual slowdown in residential sales might signal a dawning “buyer’s market.” That may be true or not, but as for its impact on your own home-buying plans, there are a couple of realities to bear in mind.

First is that any shift from seller’s to buyer’s market is at best barely discernable. Its basis would be determined by national averages, where a slowdown in residential closings is usually taken to mean that sellers are having a hard time finding customers. That wouldn’t fully take into account the effect that tight inventories might have. When fewer sellers are willing to put their own Costa Mesa homes on the market for whatever reason,…

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Last week ended with a quadruple-barreled blast of good news that bolstered prospects for Costa Mesa real estate—an effect magnified by how unexpected all had been.

When times are good, Costa Mesa real estate can’t help but benefit. That may seem to be so obvious that it doesn’t even need to be said, but a close cousin is arguably even more important: When people feel times are good, Costa Mesa real estate benefits.

Friday’s positives were magnified by the contrast with what had been reported in earlier days. Although the holiday-shortened week had seen evidence of strong holiday sales, that was dampened by a grab-bag of alarming developments: government shutdown; China trade standoff; Apple sales losses... This meant that Friday’s raft of…

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As Costa Mesa plunges fearlessly into the New Year, it’s the perfect time to present a roundup of the experts’ predictions for 2019 real estate. Last year’s national forecasts turned out to be more-or-less accurate for Costa Mesa real estate—probably because nothing very surprising happened. Throughout the year, despite several onslaughts by Mother Nature, the overall economy continued to bolster optimism—even counting the stock market gyrations at year’s end.

What do the majority expect for the coming year in real estate? Here’s what they are willing to commit to on the record:

MarketWatch predicts that there will be a general tilt away from seller’s market conditions to favor buyers—but just. Although acknowledging that such shifts often “lead…

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Normally, December is a ho-hum month for Costa Mesa home sales—and that could well be the case again. Across the nation, 2018’s leadup has performed pretty much as expected. Home sales slowed as the number of home listings stayed in short supply and mortgage interest rates crept upward. So it would surprise no one if Costa Mesa home sales followed the national trend.

But instead of a sleepy year-end market, a year-end surprise might be possible. That’s the studied opinion of CNBC’s respected real estate commentator, Diana Olick. December is “usually the slowest month for home sales,” she writes; “but that might not be the case this year.”

Last week’s pronouncement came on the heels of a dynamic stock market swoon but had little to do with that…

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