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With all this buyer interest pouring into Orange County, it's no wonder the competition for assets is fierce. From a regional standpoint, every deal we see garners at least 10 offers, with some pulling more than 20.

Voit, for example, quietly marketed a 345,000-square-foot industrial property in Costa Mesa in Q4 of 2012, and the asset attracted a highly competitive pool of buyers. While the property was 1/3 vacant at the time of the sale, the potential buyers recognized the opportunity to secure an industrial tenant and achieve strong returns on their investment. Ultimately, Connecticut-based Penwood Real Estate Investment Management emerged as the buyer.

Another example of today's frenzied buyer interest is Kilroy Realty, which recently offered its entire industrial portfolio, comprised of 3.7 million square feet, for sale. The portfolio garnered interest from several groups and was ultimately sold in two tranches to two institutional buyers, LBA and TIAA-CREF, for a total consideration of $355 million.

The fact that the portfolio could sell without being broken up further is demonstrative of just how strong the market is at the moment. Had Kilroy further segmented its portfolio, it's likely that many other buyers would have emerged to compete for the assets.

This frenetic pace of investment activity will likely continue for at least another 12 to 24 months, and investors have already begun looking beyond current inventory. Spec development is now underway, and many investors are making agreements to purchase properties before they are built, betting on the fact that they can secure a tenant.

This is likely a good bet in Orange County, as the tenant market is also on fire. Tenant demand continues to climb, and lease rates are finally ticking up - a trend which will ultimately deliver the returns that investors have been seeking.

All of this activity has a positive impact on the market as a whole. Land values, in particular, are now higher than they were in peak of 2005 and 2006. Developers know that they will get traction no matter where they build in Orange County, and are often paying up to $30 per foot for land.

Vacancy, too, is trending downward, with a 4.5% vacancy rate overall, and a 2 to 3% rate in product over 80,000 square feet. Those numbers are better than the “red hot” rates in 2005 and 2006.

Overall, now is a good time to be in the Orange County investment market. Sellers are in an excellent position, and buyers still have the chance to find great deals. The only caveat is that buyers have to be ready to buy. The pace of activity is not going to slow for a while, and those buyers who can perform the shortest due diligence and arrive with financing in place will emerge with top assets.

Mitch Zehner is an EVP in Voit Real Estate Services' Anaheim office. Contact him at [email protected]. Seth Davenport is a SVP in Voit Real Estate Services' Anaheim office. Contact him at [email protected]. The views expressed in this column are the author's own.