Jon Lansner at the Register went through the Forbes list and identified the 9 OC billionaires on it:

Irvine Co. boss Donald Bren was one of nine Orange County-bred fortunes — three from the property game — that made the Forbes magazine list of the world's billionaires.

At No. 69, the real estate holdings of Bren, 79, were valued by Forbes at $12 billion.

Click through the slideshow to see the others!

Forbes noted:

Forbes began the authoritative pursuit of the world's billionaires 25 years ago. Our first cut yielded 140 names. This year we've counted an all-time high 1,226 billionaires worth a record $4.6 trillion.

See this post in its original form, and read more on Lansner on Real Estate.

From the full list at Forbes, it looks like there are two others who have a real estate fortune greater than Bren's: the Kwok family in Hong Kong with $18.3 billion (#27) and the Otto family, retail and real estate, in Germany with $17.6 billion (#34).

The Forbes profile on Donald Bren says:

The Irvine Co. portfolio includes 480 office properties. The company also owns 125 apartment communities with 44,000 units, 41 shopping centers, three hotels, three golf clubs and five marinas.

How much are those properties valued at and how much debt is on them?

Sipping coffee in the morning surrounded by the cool and fresh air of the lake…

Watching the ducks swimming in the lake, circling the same spot everyday…

The reflection of the full moon in the peaceful and serene water…

That is Woodbridge in Irvine. Today, we will look at two properties in Woodbridge, near the South Lake. Listed around the same price range, both houses have almost identical monthly fixed costs. But 3 Waterway is 230SF more than 48 Cedarlake, and it is also a three level house. 3 Waterway has a peek-a-boo view of the lake, and 48 Cedarlake is a block away from the water.

Here is a quick comparison between the two properties:

	3 Waterway #16 Irvine, CA 92614	48 Cedarlake #37 Irvine, CA 92614
Listing Price	$624,900	$634,500
Beds/ bath	2 Beds + 1 Den/ 1.75 Bath	3 Beds/ 3 Baths
Area	1930	1700 SF
Price/ SF	$324	$373
Levels	Three Levels	Two Levels
Year Built	1983	1984
Previous sale	$285,000 in 1998	$330,000 in 1989
Elementary School	Meadow Park Elementary API 10, API Growth Score 947	Springbrook Elementary API 9, API Growth Score 897
Middle School	Southlake Middle School API Rank 10, API Growth Score 916
High School	Woodbridge High School API Rank 10, API Growth Score 877
Down payment	$124,980	$126,900
Monthly mortgage, assuming 20% down payment, and 30 YR Fixed at 3.875%	$2351.00 Monthly	$2387.00 Monthly
Home Owner’s Dues	$195 + $82 = $277	$185 + $80 = $265.00
Mello-Roos	$93.28 Annually	$93.28 Annually
Property Tax (1.03383%)	$6460.40 Annually $538.36 Monthly	$6559.65 Annually $546 Monthly
Fixed Monthly Cost of owning	$3174.14	$3205.78

Neighborhood Analysis:

Here is a quick look on prices and inventory in Woodbridge:

Median Sold Price: $399,000 (-19.4% from 2011)

Median Sold/SF: $312 (-4.9% from 2011)

Inventory: 83 Homes (-23.1% from 2011)

54% of the houses in the community are owned, and 42% rented, with a very low vacancy rate of 4%. The median age of the population in 36.28, and the neighborhood is predominantly white collar with median income of $94,967. Woodbridge area comprises of two lakes, two beach lagoons, twenty-two pools, thirteen waders, twenty-four tennis courts and numerous parks. There are forty-one recreational facilities available for the residents in the village. More about the village here and here.

3 Waterway #16, Irvine CA 92614:

Builder Tract Name: Lakeshore

Model Name: Alborg

This is a three level condominium. There are two bedrooms, and a den as an optional third bedroom. Garage is on one level, living spaces and secondary bedroom + den on the second level, and the Master Bedroom with an attached retreat on the third level. The laundry is on the top floor, so I am assuming that this house is meant for a couple with occasional visitors to occupy the secondary bedroom. When we were looking to buy, I was smitten by the lake and we visited one of the houses in South Lake that backed to the lake. It is a lovely house, especially the Master retreat is something every couple would love, but with young children it will be hard to live in. The house boasts of the usual granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, plantation shutters and hardwood floors.

A quick look at the data shows that the peak value of this house was $757,000 in December 2005, and it retreated to $519,000 in Dec 2009.

48 Cedarlake #37, Irvine CA 92614

This is a two level condominium. There is a bedroom with a full size bathroom downstairs along with all living spaces. Two bedrooms are upstairs, and both of them have attached bathrooms. There are no walk-in closets, but there is a small bay window with a potential of becoming a reading nook. Compared to 3 Waterway, this property would be ideal for a family with young children or elderly parents, but there is no lake view. The lake is a block away from the house, you can enjoy the walk around the lake and all the other amenities except the view. The house has plantation shutters, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, but the floor is a combination of ceramic tiles and carpet.

A quick look at the data shows that the peak value of this house was $874,000 in January 2007, and it retreated to $560,000 in June 2009.

Which one would you buy?

Would you buy the view, or would you buy the floor plan?

37 Lakeview is listed for $999,000 in North Lake. It was last sold for $910,000 in August 2004. In April 2006, the house peaked to 1.1 Million, and retreated to $669,000 in September 2009. Would you buy a condo for $999,000 just because it has three balconies with three spectacular views of the lake?

Discuss below or at Talk Irvine.

Date Sold	Address	Zip	Tract	Sold Price	Beds	Sq Ft
El Camino Real
3/1/12	14762 Waverly Ln	92604	Willows	$372,500	2	1000
3/1/12	6 Skipper	92604	Irvine Groves	$490,000	4	2000
3/1/12	14632 Sweetan St	92604	El Camino Glen	$470,000	3	1482
3/6/12	14931 Piper Cir	92604	Greentree	$475,000	3	1492
Northpark
3/5/12	3 Pacific Grv	92602	Saratoga	$725,000	3	2200
3/6/12	32 El Cajon	92602	Monterey	$505,000	3	1820
Northwood
3/1/12	7 Plumbago	92620	Somerton	$1,220,000	4	3650
3/2/12	160 Streamwood	92620	Irvine Springs	$140,000	1	639
3/2/12	30 Secret Garden	92620	Camellia	$965,000	5	3200
3/5/12	189 Pineview	92620	The Lakes	$295,000	2	1202
3/5/12	20 W Glorieta	92620	Park Place	$775,000	4	2190
Oak Creek
3/6/12	1006 Elmhurst	92618	Oak Park	$350,000	2	1031
Orangetree
3/2/12	45 Orange Blossom	92618	Lake Condos	$160,000	1	814
3/2/12	222 Lemon Grv	92618	Villas	$306,000	2	1153
Quail Hill
3/2/12	36 Stepping Stone	92603	Casalon	$530,000	3	1741
3/5/12	103 Windchime	92603	Sage	$505,000	3	1300
Shady Canyon
3/2/12	55 Vernal Spring	92603	Master's Collection	$4,071,000	7	6785
3/5/12	44 Blue Heron	92603	Custom	$12,800,000	5	11441
Turtle Rock
3/1/12	12 Misty Meadows	92612	Vista	$690,000	3	2500
University Park
3/2/12	25 Mann St	92612	Chancellor	$640,000	3	1810
3/6/12	19 Banyan Tree	92612	Park I	$390,000	3	1718
3/6/12	4501 Pinyon Tree Ln	92612	Park I	$735,000	4	2795
West Irvine
3/1/12	86 Deermont	92602	Wisteria	$525,000	3	1622
3/2/12	10 Sagewood	92602	Ivywood	$729,800	4	2100
3/6/12	6 Valente	92602	Concord	$720,000	4	2564
Westpark
3/5/12	9 Santa Monica Aisle	92606	Ravenna	$670,000	4	1900
3/7/12	132 Alicante Aisle	92614	Tiempo	$360,000	2	1080
3/7/12	9 Malaga	92614	Sorrento	$650,000	3	2102
Woodbridge
3/1/12	34 Lakeshore	92604	Arborlake	$402,000	2	1620
3/1/12	71 Briarglen	92614	Laurels	$230,000	2	908
3/1/12	22 Hollowglen	92604	Glen	$345,000	3	1200
3/6/12	192 Greenmoor	92614	Stonegate	$365,000	2	1144
Woodbury
3/3/12	20 Lookout	92620	Mille Fleurs	$1,010,000	5	3600

Discuss below or at Talk Irvine.

The OC Register had a post yesterday saying that Orange County apartment rents are projected to rise this year based on data from Marcus & Millichap.

Orange County apartment rents are projected to continue rising this year while the number of empty units will continue to fall, making the county the fifth-best apartment market for landlords in the nation in 2012, a market forecast concluded.

It’s the second year in a row that the Marcus & Millichap National Apartment Index ranked O.C. No. 5 out of 44 U.S. metro areas. The county’s apartment market also ranked third best out of seven California metros.

If the report is accurate, renters need to brace for an average increase of 4% in asking rents. And apartments will be harder to find, with just 3.9% of units expected to be empty by year’s end, the report said.

…

How did they do last year? Marcus & Millichap projected that O.C. asking rents would go up 3.7% to $1,535 per month in 2011. In fact, the average asking rent rose 2.7% to $1,515.

The brokerage was more accurate in its 2011 vacancy projection: It predicted that vacancies would fall to 4.4%, compared to an actual drop to 4.3%.

What do you think will happen to OC rents this year? What about Irvine rents? Anyone in the process of renewing a lease?