Niche data, anecdotal evidence point to high-end rental surge. Instability in housing prices is one reason rich are shying away.
FROM LATIMES.COM
Real estate agents have been hustling lately but not necessarily to sell homes. Instead, leasing is in vogue, particularly at the top of the price spectrum.
If phone inquiries are an indication, interest in leasing luxury homes is intense, said Justin Mandile, an agent in the Sotheby’s International Realty office in Beverly Hills.
He and partner Mary Swanson received 10 to 15 calls a day for two months on a five-bedroom house in the Sunset Strip area priced at $3.5 million for sale or $10,000 a month to rent. After initially holding out for a sale, the owner recently accepted a shortterm lease.
“Surprisingly, there are that many people looking for a $10,000 lease,” Mandile said.
No single clearinghouse tracks such data for all of Southern California, and many top-dollar leases are handled privately, away from the prying eyes of the public. Still, niche data and anecdotal evidence point to an upswing in upscale rentals.
Lease offerings priced at more than $10,000 a month were up 15% through the first part of April over the same period last year on the Combined L.A./Westside Multiple Listing Service, while those in the $7,500-to-$10,000 price range saw a 7% increase. OCHouseRentals.com, which specializes in luxury leases, reports that business has been brisk in Orange County as well.
“We’re seeing increased leasing across the board — both luxury and non-luxury properties,” said Cary Hoffman, manager of Rodeo Realty’s Encino office, which has more than 70 agents and listings from the Westside to the south San Fernando Valley.
“Some people who are losing $3-million homes are very happy, happy to lease for $10,000 a month because they want to still look like they are making it.”
Anita Rich broker
Underlying the activity in leasing is consumer uncertainty about the direction of housing, said Paul Habibi, a UCLA lecturer on real estate, investment and development.
“People want to wait to buy when they are sure there is a floor underneath the housing market,” Habibi said. “When government intervention pulls back, then we will see where the housing market really is.”
Beyond the usual remodelers and divorcees, those seeking leases include people who can no longer qualify for mortgages.
“The high end got hit last with the wave of foreclosures” and short sales, said Hoffman, who has been an agent for 29 years. “People coming out of those homes have to have a place to go.”
They may want to stay in the same school districts or close to familiar shops and businesses. For others, it’s a matter of keeping up appearances.
“Some people who are losing $3-million homes are very happy, happy to lease for $10,000 a month because they want to still look like they are making it,” said broker Anita Rich, who oversees the Rich Group Keller Williams in Encino. “It’s really important they still have an address that goes along with the lifestyle.”
Leasing still represents a relatively small segment of the market compared with sales, but it’s not uncommon to see homes listed both for sale or lease these days, creating a safety net for the homeowner if the house doesn’t sell right away.
Rich recently completed three leases for $8,000 a month and up.
See LEASING, page C26
