The Riverside apartment market has shown notable improvement in the past year, and now ranks as the nation’s strongest occupancy performer. When the nation transitioned toward a more flexible at-home workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, more affordable markets benefited from renters who moved away from expensive areas that had previously thrived as employment hubs. Riverside is the nation’s biggest beneficiary of this demographic shift, with apartment occupancy climbing to a two-decade high of 98.5% as of May. This was the most solid occupancy showing among the nation’s 50 largest apartment markets. In the past year, occupancy in Riverside has climbed by a solid 220 basis points, also a leading performance nationwide. Located just east of Los Angeles, Riverside offers average monthly rents of $1,847, a deep discount of about $460 under average rates in the bigger market.
