In another sign the Inland Empire continues to be the region’s hot housing spot, Ontario Ranch again topped Irvine Ranch as Southern California’s top-selling new-home community.
For the second consecutive year, John Burns Real Estate ranked Ontario Ranch as the region’s top-selling master-planned community and No. 6 nationally. The Ontario community had 1,011 sales last year, down 22% from 1,292 in 2020 when it was the nation’s No. 5 community by sales, according to the developer consultancy from Irvine.
The Irvine Co.’s Irvine Ranch came in No. 8 in the Burns rankings with an estimated 950 sales last year — up 19% from 2020. It had previously been the region’s fastest-selling homebuilding community for sales as well as among the national leaders since the Great Recession ended.
The sales drop at Ontario Ranch is “a good problem to have,” says Caitlyn Lai-Valenti, senior director of sales and marketing at Brookfield Residential, one of the project’s developers.
“Demand has been so overwhelming that we could have sold far more homes in 2021 if they were available,” she said. “We were sometimes forced to pause openings as land-development faced delays. New home sales continue to move fast – so fast that supply can’t keep up.”
So, why are Riverside and San Bernardino counties the region’s go-to place for new housing?
Just look at November stats on closed sales from DQNews: Riverside County builders’ median sales price for newly constructed residences was $573,500 and San Bernardino County was at $570,250 — the lowest in a six-county region where the overall new-home median was $662,000.
That pricing and a decent supply of ready-to-build lots let Inland Empire builders sell 11,313 homes in the past 12 months vs. 9,588 the previous year, stats from DQNews show. That’s an 18% gain. Los Angeles and Orange County builders sold 6,465 homes in the same period vs. 6,340 — a 2% gain.
That means the IE claimed 64% of the four-county new-home sales in the past year vs. 60% the previous 12 months. The region regained its leadership share for regional new-home sales in 2018 and now is at its highest level since 2007.
The region also dominated the four counties’ homebuilding for much of this century’s first decade. It peaked at 70% of sales in 2005 before crashing into the Great Recession.
PS: Also making the Burns Top 50 was Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine, which tied for 23rd with 655 sales, up 13% from 580 in 2020.
PPS: Other communities in the top 10: Florida’s The Villages and Lakewood Ranch (No. 1 and 2), Wellen Park, No. 7; Las Vegas had No. 3 Summerlin, No. 5 Valley Vista, and No. 9 Cadence; Charlestown, S.C. had No. 4 Cane Bay; and El Paso, Texas claimed the No. 10 spot with Mission Ridge.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
Source: Orange County Register
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