Chronic undersupply of housing is an unfortunate hallmark of many West region markets. In Bakersfield, less than 900 available apartment units exist across the entire market, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics – and that’s a years-long high. The market of about 900,000 people (according to the U.S. Census Bureau) has about 26,000 apartment units, translating to about one apartment unit for every 34 people. An October occupancy reading of 96.7% registered at the lowest rate since early 2018. At times throughout the last give years, vacant unit count has gotten lower than 200 available units. The five-year average of vacant units in Bakersfield comes in just below 500 units. Meanwhile, the average influx of new supply in Bakersfield remains low as the 10-year average for annual deliveries hovers around 150 units. In the year-ending 3rd quarter 2022, the market gained just 135 new units. Another California market with a similar population and low vacancy: Fresno. We’ll dive into fundamentals there next week.
