Renting And Owning Across Counties

Homeownership rates mostly increased across the state in 2018. Sacramento beat out Riverside for the highest rate of homeownership, at over 64%. Los Angeles County remains the lowest at just below 50%. Statewide, the average homeownership rate rose slightly to 55.2%.

California’s homeownership rate will likely remain roughly level in 2019, having reached a peak for this housing cycle. Now, as home sales volume slows and prices decline going into the next recession, Californians will be more cautious to enter homeownership.

The average rental vacancy rate rose slightly to 4.4% in 2018, up from the previous year but still below historic norms, indicating demand continues to outstrip available rentals. The highest rental vacancy rate in 2018 was 5.6% in Riverside. The lowest was 4.0% in Los Angeles.

Rental vacancies will continue to linger below historic norms until homeownership rates stabilize and builders begin to adjust, expected to continue statewide during 2019 and 2020. Meanwhile, rents will rise beyond the rate of inflation until multi-family construction rises, as it did in the 1980s, exerting downward pressure on rents.

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