Southern California real estate bosses have dramatically cooled their hiring pace as high interest rates trim construction plans and home sales.
My trusty spreadsheet found property-linked employment in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties was 755,900 in March 2024. That’s up only 2,200 jobs from February and 36% slower than the seasonal norm. In pre-pandemic 2015-19, an average 3,460 jobs were added in March.
Another slowdown sign: In the last 12 months, real estate work grew locally by 7,400 positions, but the industyr’s hiring pace has averaged 13,800 a year since 2010. So, 2024 is running 46% below par on an annual basis.
Also, current real estate staffing is 26,800 jobs below the most recent employment peak set in July 2022. Remember, many people who work in the real estate world are self-employed and are not tracked by traditional government job counts.
Don’t overlook real estate’s job-market clout, with its share of local employment at 9.5% in March 2024. The industry’s hiring equaled 11% of all new local jobs since 2010, the end of the Great Recession.
Across Southern California, employment in all other industries was 7.19 million workers in March – up 25,600 jobs in a month. Over 12 months, non-real estate jobs were up 69,500, or a 1% gain – equal to real estate’s growth rate.
By the slice
Here’s how key real estate-related employment niches in Southern California fared …
Trade construction specialists: 248,800 employed by contractors – up 700 for the month and up 7,100 over 12 months, or a 2.9% gain. Average March in 2015-19 had a 2,760 job increase. It’s 9,500 below post-Great Recession high (October 2023).
Building, civil, construction: 121,400 workers in many trades – up 900 for the month and up 2,000 over 12 months, or a 1.7% gain. Average March was a 350 job gain. It’s 2,100 below post-Great Recession high (October 2023).
Lending: 88,200 folks in various slices of credit work – down 100…
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