Rents won’t change much in Newport Beach

Paul Clinton

Local renters are expected to see milder rent hikes than their

counterparts in other areas of Orange County and the Southland

between now and late 2004, a USC study shows.

Newport Beach, with a market geared toward high-end renters, is

“expected to have comparatively slow rent growth,” said Raphael

Bostic, the author of a theoretical projection released by USC’s Lusk

Center on Thursday.

The Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast, as it is called,

analyzed trends in Los Angeles and Orange counties, as well as the

Inland Empire, and offered predictions for the coming two years.

In Orange County, rents are expected to rise 8% by the end of

2004. Inland Empire rents are expected to go up the most, at 15%,

with Los Angeles County rents next with a 12% rise.

Newport Beach’s rent hikes are in the lower tier of the county’s

more than 30 cities. Despite that news, the report said Orange County

is the tightest market for apartment vacancies. The county has a 95%

occupancy rate, the study said.

“The tight market will not translate into significant increases in

rent in Orange County,” Bostic said.

Orange County’s 4% unemployment rate is the lowest in the

Southland, even though job growth has stalled and its economy has

slowed.

The findings of the study square with what Irvine Co. managers are

seeing in their company’s apartment complexes in Newport Beach.

The company now has a 95% occupancy rate, which carries over to

the newly built Tuscan villa-styled Newport Bluffs apartments,

spokeswoman Jennifer Heiger said.

“We consider that to be, for all practical purposes, full,” Heiger

said. “We expect rents to increase slightly [this year].”

Vacancies in the higher-end apartments have become a much more

regular occurrence because of historically low interest rates, which

have inspired many of those renters to buy condominiums and homes.

Newport Beach now has a 93.9% occupancy, Bostic said. Figures for

Costa Mesa’s occupancy were not available.

Bostic said the average apartment in Newport Beach rents for

$1,700 now, a 2.3% increase from a year ago. The average Orange

County apartment rents for $1,200 a month.

Specific rent data for Costa Mesa was also not available, Bostic

said.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.