Area Still SoCal’s Affordability Hub
The Inland Empire, traditionally Southern California’s most affordable major area, has seen its growth stunted as the overall multifamily market slowed down in 2023, according to the latest Inland Empire multifamily market report. Rent growth on a year-over-year basis was tepid, at 0.4% as of January, while the average plateaued on a trailing three-month basis. Despite that, rents actually fared better than the national rate, which saw its fourth consecutive month of -0.2% movement, as per the U.S. multifamily market report. Occupancy in the metro was down 110 basis points year-over-year, to 94.7%, still 10 basis points higher than the U.S. rate.
Anchored by a strong, albeit slowing, industrial sector, the metro added 30,000 jobs in the 12 months ending in November. The employment growth rate was 1.3%, trailing the U.S. by 90 basis points. Despite recording a 0.6% contraction, the trade, transportation and utilities sector is still the area’s economic cornerstone, accounting for more than a quarter of all non-farm employment in the two counties. Short- and medium-term prospects remain positive, with an industrial pipeline of more than 10 million square feet and infrastructure projects such as the Ontario Airport Tunnel poised to keep the sector going.
Notoriously slow to add inventory, the Inland Empire had 7,228 units underway as of January, with another 39,000 in the prospective and planning phases. On the sales front, the market had its slowest year in more than a decade, with $422 million in assets trading.
Read the full Yardi Matrix Inland Empire Multifamily Market Report: March 2024
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