Hiring stalls at Southern California real estate businesses

Hiring in Southern California’s real estate-related industries essentially halted in April, at the start of the usually robust springtime sales period.

My trusty spreadsheet found state jobs stats showing property-linked employment in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties was 773,600 in April 2024 – that’s up 200 for the month. That’s 97% below pre-pandemic 2015-19, when 7,540 jobs were added in April on average.

Rising mortgage rates have slowed everything from new construction to renovations to the pace of real estate transactions. Consider that over the last 12 months, local real estate work shrank locally by 1,700 positions – an 0.2% drop. Compare that with the average 12-month hiring pace of 13,500 new jobs since the 2010, the end of the Great Recession.

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Rates have been rising for two years. So it’s little surprise that the local property-related job count is 28,200 jobs below the post 2009-employment peak set in July 2022. We’ll note that many people who work in the real estate world are self-employed and not tracked by traditional government bean counters.

Real estate’s hiring freeze is a contrast to the rest of Southern California, where employment in all other industries was 7.19 million workers – up 22,800 jobs in a month. Over 12 months, non-real estate jobs are up 76,300 over 12 months, or a 1.1% gain.

Don’t overlook real estate’s job-market clout. Its share of local employment at 9.7% in April 2024 and its hiring equaled 10.6% of the region’s job growth since 2010.

By the worker slice

Here’s how key real estate-related employment niches in Southern California fared …

Trade construction specialists: 248,100 employed by contractors – down 1,600 for the month but up 2,000 over 12 months. Average April in 2015-19 had 3,480 job increase. It’s 10,200 below the post-Great Recession peak set in October 2023.

Building, civil, construction: 120,400 workers in various trades – down 400 for the month and off 700 over 12 months. Average is 1,200 job increase. It’s 3,100 below its October 2023 peak.

Lending: 159,600 folks in various slices of credit work – up 200 for the month but off 3,800 over 12 months. Average is 240 job loss. It’s 38,400 below its December 2016 peak.

Real estate services: 76,600 people handling transactions – up 300 for the month and up 500 over 12 months. Average is 640 job increase. It’s 2,800 below its December 2021 peak.

Building supplies: 51,400 sellers of equipment and materials – up 600 for the month but off 500 over 12 months. Average is 660 job increase. It’s 4,600 below its June 2021 peak.

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Building services: 117,500 jobs in commercial property operations – up 1,100 for the month and up 800 over 12 months. Average is 1,800 job increase. It’s 1,500 below its October 2022 peak.

Geographically speaking

Here is real estate employment’s breakdown, by metro area …

Los Angeles County: 379,900 real estate jobs – up 1,000 for the month but off 3,600 over 12 months. An average is 2,300 hires. Jobs are 18,400 below post-Great Recession high (November 2019). Real estate equals 8.3% of all LA jobs.

Orange County: 212,900 real estate jobs – down 600 for the month and off 500 over 12 months. Average is 1,900 hires. Jobs are 17,500 below the August 2018 peak. Real estate equals 12.6% of all OC jobs.

Inland Empire: 180,800 real estate jobs – down 200 for the month but up 2,400 over 12 months. Average is 3,000 hires. Jobs are 5,300 below the October 2023 peak. Real estate equals 10.7% of all IE jobs.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com