Riverside-San Bernardino Multifamily Market Report

Approved projects wait on the sidelines. The Inland Empire was the only major Southern California metro to record vacancy compression last year, and the local rate has since held at 4.5 percent during the first quarter of 2026. With supply and demand aligned, a refilling of the local pipeline appears warranted. Instead, the active pipeline is shrinking, with the pullback dictated by broader hurdles to multifamily development — construction financing availability, rising material costs, and labor accessibility — rather than local market conditions. Recent permit activity points to this, as during the 12 months ended March, developers pulled 5,100 multifamily permits, yet broke ground on just 550 units, the lowest total for a yearlong period since at least 2021.