Institutional and Owner-Users Boost Office Values and Liquidity in Orange County

A diverse and deep set of buyers are setting their sights on Orange County office assets, according to Will Poulsen, senior director of JLL Capital Markets.

Institutional investors, owner-users and groups seeking to convert office into a different product type have all been active in the market in 2026.

"The diversity of buyer profile in the area has never been greater," Poulsen said.

He's seeing a big surge in both institutional investment and owner-user activity, with the latter growing from roughly 7% of the market in 2025 to almost 40% through YTD 2026.

"This is pushing values and enhancing liquidity in Orange County, and we're starting to see this play out in Los Angeles as well, Poulsen told GlobeSt.com.

His colleague, Tim Donald, director of JLL Capital Markets, said the best product in Orange County is getting harder to find.

"With few top-tier buildings available, buyers who want quality are competing for a small set of opportunities, and that is showing up in more bids and tighter pricing on well-leased assets," he told GlobeSt.com.

"Sales activity is picking up because capital is chasing that scarcity, and the data points to strengthening fundamentals across the broader market."

Poulsen told GlobeSt.com that Orange County is showing the same recovery dynamic seen in many of the top markets in the country.

"Organic leasing demand, a new wave of innovative industries like defense, and the removal of office supply through conversions are all pulling availability down at once, and investors are taking notice," Poulsen said.

"That combination is what's driving seven straight quarters of rising sales activity."

Specifically, Orange County has seen a major recovery in Grade A availability, declining from about 22% just two years ago to 17% now. That came as sales momentum started to pick up, with confidence among buyers growing.

With the robust pace of hiring by freshly funded innovation companies in OC, absorption will only pick up going forward, according to a JLL report.