Irvine's Asian population booms, boosting the local real estate market

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A server dressed as a Taiwanese schoolgirl serves noodles to patrons at Class 302, a popular eatery in Irvine.

Josie Huang/KPCC

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History professor Yong Chen of the University of California, Irvine says that Irvine is a "post-modern Chinatown" that Asian homebuyers are drawn to.

Josie Huang/KPCC

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A moving company moves a family into an Irvine neighborhood.

Josie Huang/KPCC

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A line of people waiting to enter the 85 Degrees C Bakery snakes through the Diamond Jamboree shopping center in Irvine.

Josie Huang/KPCC

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Artist's rendering of a new Great Park Neighborhood in Irvine, developed by FivePoint Communities. Promotional materials say the single-family residences "will combine classic, American Heritage architecture with thoughtful new features, such as unprecedented flexibility to accommodate families of all sizes - and all generations."

FivePoint Communities

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Amy Lee (r.) entertains a friend at her apartment in Irvine. Lee, 32, works as a computer systems planner and has been living in Irvine for seven years.

Josie Huang/KPCC

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The Diamond Jamboree shopping center in Irvine features Asian-centric dining and retail stores.

Josie Huang/KPCC

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Lunchgoers at Irvine restaurant Class 302 dine on the Taiwanese street food such as pork noodles and stinky tofu.

Josie Huang/KPCC

Irvine is now one of the hottest real estate markets in the nation, partly due to its appeal to Asian homebuyers attracted to the planned community’s wide boulevards, open space and new construction.

Irvine is now the fastest-growing major city in California. It also happens to be one of the hottest real estate markets in the nation -- thanks, in part, to a boom in its Asian population.

Communities like Monterey Park and San Gabriel were always the place to go, but now, as KPCC's Josie Huang reports, Irvine is a top draw for Asian homebuyers.