The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County have many affected homeowners flooding the luxury real estate market in Orange County, with realtors saying they’re seeing a huge demand for short and long-term leases.
The realtor for a listing in Newport Beach that’s been sitting on the market since October says the phone calls and texts from agents started the night the Palisades Fire erupted, and they haven’t stopped.
“With this particular listing, we were maybe getting one showing a week,” said Lisa Tan. “But now we are getting three to give five, and it’s been nonstop.”
California wildfires aftermath: Stark photos of LA-area devastation
Tan, who works with Christie’s International, said she watched like many of us in horror last week when the Palisades and Eaton fires devastated Los Angeles. And almost immediately, she said, her phone started pinging about the five-bedroom home in Newport Beach’s highly desired Port Streets neighborhood that’s listed for $19,5000 a month.
“Since the first day of the fire … I already received texts asking to show the next day…and every single day since last Tuesday, we’ve had multiple showings in a day,” Tan said.
Victims of the Woolsey Fire share tips for wildfire victims on how to file insurance claims. Darsha Philips reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
All of the showings are this week and last were for families displaced from the Pacific Palisades, she said, noting the neighborhood “is pretty similar to Newport Beach, families with young kids” who don’t have a home to return to and looking for somewhere familiar, either temporarily or for good.
“Some families that lost everything – and they’re just trying to figure out what to do with their kids at this point,” Tan said. “It’s just devastating because there is a shortage of homes in OC and now, everybody is trying to find a place to live just for shelter and I don’t even know if we can accommodate everyone at this point.”
We spoke with a woman who was looking at that house Wednesday who said they’re looking for rentals in Orange County because they have family and friends in the area. She also said she had several friends in the area also looking for new homes after losing their homes in LA.