Orange County apartment sales climb 15.6% as unit prices fall

Orange County apartment sales hit $656 million in the first eight months of 2026, up 15.6%, while the average price per unit fell 14.8%, Yardi Matrix found.

The average sale was $376,551 a unit, down from the end of 2025, against a national average of $192,668 that fell 3.5%, Commercial Observer reported, citing the Yardi Matrix study. Yardi Matrix attributes the county's larger decline to the quality of the assets that changed hands this year, a mix that did not include many higher-end properties. Nearly half of the county's transaction volume came from a two-property portfolio acquisition.

An allocator using the county average as a comp is pricing to a per-unit figure nearly double the $192,668 national average. The largest stand-alone sale, in Garden Grove, traded at $329,600 a unit, below the county average. Asking rent reached $2,897 a month in August, up 1.4% from a year earlier and a full percentage point above the 0.4% national gain.

Occupancy was 96.4% in July, tying San Francisco for the third-highest rate nationally, though down 30 basis points from a year earlier. Rents rose annually in 22 of the county's 26 submarkets. Brea led with 3.8% growth to $2,714 a month and Buena Park-Cypress rose 3.5% to $2,557, while Newport Beach remained the most expensive at $3,815, up 2.7%. Higher-end lifestyle apartments reached $3,285 a month.

Eagle Real Estate Group acquired a 402-unit apartment community in Garden Grove for $133 million from Bridge Investment Group in June; the property includes 82 affordable apartments. Post Investment Group's acquisition in Santa Ana was $62 million, Bascom Group's in Buena Park $53 million and Benedict Canyon Equities' in Anaheim $43 million.

Developers started 3,077 apartments across seven properties through August, 31.2% more than in the same period of 2025 and already above the 2,990 units started in all of last year. Construction is concentrated in Irvine: North Irvine has 3,898 units underway and South Irvine 1,776, and North, South and West Irvine together account for nearly 60% of the county's pipeline. Irvine Company's 1,858-unit Discovery Park in North Irvine, which includes 244 affordable apartments, is the largest project underway and is expected to be completed in late 2028. The county is adding supply while the national pipeline shrinks. U.S. annual apartment completions were 46% below their peak, as Private Real Estate Daily previously reported.