Nearly 4,000 Deliveries in Inland Empire Push Multifamily Vacancy Up
The multifamily fundamentals overall in the Inland Empire, which includes areas like Coachella Valley, Riverside and San Bernardino, look steady. Though one trend seems to be picking up momentum — slightly higher vacancy as supply picks up momentum.
In the first quarter, CBRE's report in the Inland Empire found that occupancy dropped by 10 basis points from the previous three months to 95.4 percent. Year-over-year, the drop was a wider 50 basis points. These declines were "driven by elevated supply following the delivery of more than 3,700 units over the past year," the CRE firm noted.
The first quarter saw a total of 260 deliveries, with the largest amount entering the Ontario/Chino submarket (210 units).
Investment sales fell to $108.7 million compared with $127.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. However, pricing per unit improved to $262,000, which was driven mainly by the sale of 178-unit The Hawthorne in Riverside, which traded for a total of $65.25 million.
Some other larger deals involved Torben Welch paying $21 million for a 120-unit property in Victorville and Hawaiian Apartments LL acquiring a 36-unit asset in Ontario for $10.8 million.
Meanwhile, demand was strong, with net absorption hitting 132 units, a turnaround from the -202 posted in the fourth quarter of 2025.
"The improvement reflected resilient underlying demand, supported by continued population growth and immigration from neighboring coastal markets, even as elevated supply persisted," CBRE said.
Also, average rents per unit accelerated by a modest one percent to $2,310, with CBRE noting that growth favored older assets with tenants focused more on affordability rather than newer, flashier properties.
Source: GlobeSt/ALM