IRVINE, CA—Coordinating as many as 10 bidders for one apartment-asset sale demonstrates the confidence investors have in the multifamily investment market in Orange County as we continue into the new year, Colliers International SVP Patrick Swanson tells GlobeSt.com.

Since the recession and the loose homeownership qualifications that helped spawn it, banks and other home-lending institutions have been under the tight-fisted control of government regulators who have demanded that prospective homeowners meet strict and often daunting qualifications to buy a house. While that's bad news for Millennials who are ready to buy their first home, it's good news for multifamily investors and for those who build apartments. Demand for apartments has risen to levels eclipsing demand for homeownership, and that's especially true in Orange County, where home prices have always been among the highest in the nation.

Swanson recently sold a long-held investment portfolio of four apartment buildings in Orange County where there were more than 10 bidders for each property, indicating that demand among investors for apartment buildings in Orange County continues unabated. We spoke with him about what the future may hold—both good and bad—for Orange County's multifamily investment market.