Are builders catching up to Southern California’s housing shortage?

The New Home Company, a real estate developer from Aliso Viejo, is moving forward on the Bedford community that will bring 1,620 homes to South Corona. New Home Co. recently announced it will be building homes with TRI Pointe Homes, which will build Citron, 101 townhomes designed by Woodley Architectural Group — two-story, row-style residences from 1,231 to 1,514 square feet with three bedrooms and three baths. Prices are expected to begin in the low-$400,000s. (Courtesy of The New Home Company)
The back yard of a Sea Summit home in San Clemente. (Courtesy: Taylor Morrison)
SoundThe gallery will resume insecondsNew Home Co. is building 28 new homes in Ladera Ranch. (Sketch courtesy of New Home Co.)
Construction workers work on new homes by Seville at Park Place community in Ontario on Monday, May 7, 2018. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
A SunPower employee completes installation of solar panels at KB Home’s Terramor development in Riverside County. Solar systems like this would become standard at new homes throughout California if state officials adopt proposed new energy standards. “California is about to take a quantum leap in energy standards,” said Bob Raymer, technical director for the California Building Industry Association. (Photo by Will Lester- The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Bassenian Lagoni designed the Marywood Hills single-family homes that range from 3,800 to 4,400 square feet. (Courtesy: New Home Co.)
Workers work on some of the new homes near Newport Road and Murphy Ranch Road in Menifee Thursday, Feb. 22.
Photo by Frank Bellino, contributing photographer
Toll Brothers model homes in Porter Ranch. (Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Front of one of 15 homes offered by Brandywine Homes at its Newbury community in Yorba Linda. (Courtesy: Brandywine Homes)
New Homes Co. is building 10 homes in Rancho Mission Viejo. They’re priced at $359,818 and are a snug 700 square feet. The home features just one bedroom. (Jonathan Lansner, Southern California News Group)
An artist’s rendering depicts what a town center in one the 4,055-home Mission Village and the 1,440-home Landmark Village, the first two of Newhall Ranch’s nine developments. Project backers expect to take 15 to 20 years to complete all 21,500 homes and 11.5 million square feet of commercial space. (Courtesy of FivePoint Communities)
New homes were being built last in the Terramor community east of the 15 Freeway.
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Southern California builders are putting a dent in the regional housing shortage, selling new homes at a pace not seen in nine years.
CoreLogic data shows 18,117 new residences sold in the 12 months ended in May across the four counties covered by the Southern California News Group. That’s the best performance since January 2009, and it’s up 7.7 percent in a year.
This means new housing’s share of sales also grows. Builders were responsible for 8.1 percent of all Southern California home purchases in the past year. That’s the highest share of sales since March 2009.
Still, the upswing looks sluggish compared with housing development before the Great Recession.
From 2000 through 2006, Southern California builders were selling homes more than twice as fast as today at a 43,000 units-a-year pace. (Don’t forget one reason for recently modest homebuilding — that last development frenzy ended badly when real estate’s bubble burst.)
Newly constructed housing’s recent surge is a sharp contrast to resales of Southern California’s existing homes, a market that until recently has suffered from limited inventory: 224,296 homes sold in the 12 months, down 2.8 percent in a year and off 4.4 percent from the post-recession peak of September 2013.
And according to ReportsOnHousing, Southern California house sellers are finding it takes two weeks longer to get an existing home from new listing to escrow this summer vs. a year ago.
ReportsOnHousing tracks homebuying patterns found in real estate broker networks: supply (active listings); year-to-date increase in supply; demand (new escrows in past 30 days); and “market time” (a measure of selling speed of days it takes a typical listing to enter escrow).
In the four-county region, the supply of existing residences on the market grew to 33,639 listings July 12 — up 2,738 units for sale in a year or 9 percent. That’s also up 2 percent vs. the 6-year average.
Year to date, sellers have grown the listing count by 9,925 listings. That’s triple the 3,313 added in 2017 in the same period and well above the average increase of 6,635 in 2013-2017.
More choices and slower decision-making mean Southern California’s “market time” — an estimate of selling speed — was at 80 days on July 12, up from 66 days a year earlier and an average 74 days in 2012-2017.
Here’s a look at recent housing data for the four counties — how home sales, new and existing residences, fared in the 12 months ended in May plus how the July 12 supply of existing homes on the market shapes up …
Orange County
New homes: 5,088 sales — above 5,000 for five months, best since January 2007.
Builder’s share: 13.4 percent — above 13 percent for seven months, best since June 2008.
Existing homes: 32,828 resales — down 1.8 percent in a year and off 1.9 percent from the recent peak of October 2017.
Supply: 6,579 listings, up 596 residences for sale in a year or 10 percent.
Market time: 80 days vs. 63 a year earlier and an average 69 days in 2012-2017.
Riverside County
New homes: 4,977 sales — above 4,900 for 33 months, best since March 2010.
Builder’s share: 11.6 percent in past 12 months — eighth month below 12 percent after 31 months above it.
Existing homes: 37,978 resales — off 1.1 percent from recent peak January 2011.
Supply: 8,597 listings, up 859 residences for sale in a year or 11 percent; and up 6 percent vs. six-year average.
Demand: 2,760 new escrows, down 292 sales contracts in 12 months or -10 percent; and down 4 percent vs. previous six years.
Market time: 93 days vs. 76 a year earlier and an average 88 days in 2012-2017.
Los Angeles County
New homes: 4,205 sales — above 4,200 for seven months, best since April 2011.
Builder’s share: 5.2 percent — at 5.2 percent or higher for seven months, best since April 2011.
Existing homes: 76,927 in past 12 months — — off 4.8 percent from the recent peak of July 2013.
Supply: 12,989 listings, up 835 residences for sale in a year or 7 percent; but down 2.7 percent vs. six-year average.
Market time: 72 days vs. 63 a year earlier and an average 68 days in 2012-2017.
San Bernardino County
New homes: 3,847 sales — above 3,000 for 10 months, best since February 2009.
Builder’s share: 11.9 percent — highest since January 2009.
Existing homes: 28,541 resales — off just 0.2 percent from the recent peak set in April.
Supply: 5,474 listings, up 448 residences for sale in a year or 9 percent; and up 6 percent vs. six-year average.
Market time: 81 days vs. 66 a year earlier and an average 79 days in 2012-2017.
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Source: OC Register