Orange County Multifamily Report – October 2026
This market is showing coastal chops.
Orange County’s multifamily fundamentals remained comparatively firm in August despite softer occupancy. Advertised asking rents rose 0.3 percent, on a trailing three-month basis to $2,897, ahead of the 0.2 percent U.S. gain to $1,773, while annual growth held at 1.4 percent, 100 basis points above the national rate. The occupancy rate in stabilized properties was tied with San Francisco for the third tightest in the U.S. at 96.4 percent in July, despite dropping 30 basis points year-over-year.
Employment declined 0.2 percent year-over-year through June, while U.S. employment was flat. Unemployment stood at 4.2 percent in July, below California’s 5.1 percent but above the 4.1 percent national rate, according to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, June data showed a net gain of 2,100 jobs, led by education and health services and leisure and hospitality, while government and manufacturing shed 20,400 positions combined. Meanwhile, permanent seating installation advanced at OCVibe’s 5,000-capacity concert hall, and OCTA began testing the 4.2-mile OC Streetcar.
Deliveries totaled 749 units, or 0.3 percent of stock, through August, while 10,251 units were underway and starts rose 31.2 percent from the same period in 2025. Investment sales totaled $656 million in the first eight months of 2026, up 15.6 percent from the same period in 2025, while the average price per unit fell 14.8 percent to $376,551. Nationally, the average decreased 3.5 percent to $192,668.
