Apartment developers in Los Angeles and Orange counties started 2026 with a splash, filing the second-highest number of building plans in the past 36 years.<\/p>\n
My trusty spreadsheet<\/a> discovered this construction surge by reviewing building permit data from the Census Bureau<\/a>. These stats estimate plans for new multifamily housing, a segment of construction that primarily consists of apartment complexes.<\/p>\n Permits don\u2019t immediately translate into more choices for tenants, as the construction process is lengthy. And not every permitted project gets built. But it\u2019s hard to complain about more planning for more housing, unless you don\u2019t like more housing.<\/p>\n In the first eight months of 2026, permits were filed to construct 16,643 multifamily units in the two-county metropolitan area. Is that a building boom?<\/p>\n \u2014It\u2019s 82% higher than the same period a year earlier.<\/p>\n \u2014It\u2019s the best start to a year since 2015 \u2013 and the second best since 1990.<\/p>\n \u2014It\u2019s 32% above L.A.-Orange County\u2019s pace over the past 10 years, when California began its homebuilding push to address its housing affordability challenges.<\/p>\n With a longer-term lens, the pace has increased, too. L.A.-Orange County\u2019s 192,101 multifamily permits during the last 10 years marked a 32% increase from the previous decade, an era scarred by the Great Recession.<\/p>\n We will note that L.A.-Orange County\u2019s single-family developers had 108,439 permits over the past decade, up 72% from the previous 10 years.<\/p>\n One active builder<\/p>\n Real estate giant Irvine Co. is an example of who\u2019s building rentals.<\/p>\n The Newport Beach developer is constructing what will eventually be approximately 8,500 apartment units across eight Orange County projects, primarily in Irvine, as well as in Tustin and Newport Beach.<\/p>\n Company officials say construction of roughly 1,000 units was permitted and started last year \u2013 with a similar amount set for 2026. The same building pace is anticipated to continue for seven years.<\/p>\n A key trend in Irvine Co.\u2019s apartment push is the use of old retail space and land previously designated for office buildings. The idea is to create more housing closer to where residents shop and work.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s quite a group, particularly younger people, looking for that kind of living environment,\u201d Rob Elliott, the company\u2019s senior vice president for planning and design, said last year.<\/p>\n No surge elsewhere<\/p>\n Curiously, multifamily construction plans were slowing elsewhere in Southern California.<\/p>\n The Inland Empire\u2019s 2,384 multifamily permits through August were the slowest start to a year in 2022, down 33% year over year and 8% below the 10-year average. In the longer term, the two-county region\u2019s 39,764 permits over the past decade were 72% higher than in the previous 10 years.<\/p>\n San Diego County\u2019s 4,359 multifamily permits through August were the worst start since 2020, down 17% year over year, and 1% below its 10-year average. Over the past decade, 67,365 permits represented a 74% increase over the previous 10 years.<\/p>\n Outside of California, 310,400 permits were filed to start in 2026 \u2013 up only 2% from the previous year. And this year\u2019s pace is 4% slower than the 10-year average.<\/p>\n Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com<\/a><\/p>\n Try Jonathan Lansner\u2019s Substack collection of economic trends. CLICK HERE<\/a>!<\/p>\n August\u2019s most popular Southern California real estate stories \u2026<\/p>\n No. 1: Where is OC\u2019s hottest homebuying neighborhood? <\/a><\/p>\n No. 2: 338-unit affordable housing complex breaks ground in Tustin <\/a><\/p>\n No. 3: Peek inside this Newport Coast estate that sold for $39M <\/a><\/p>\n No. 4: Enderle Center sold, Campo on 17th moves ahead in Tustin <\/a><\/p>\n No. 5: Rents rise in just 22% of SoCal. See which cities got hikes <\/a><\/p>\n No. 6: Home prices dip in 38% of OC. How did your ZIP do? <\/a><\/p>\n No. 7: LA-OC\u2019s worst-paying jobs: Can those wages pay the rent? <\/a><\/p>\n No. 8: LA-OC homes still \u2018unaffordable\u2019 even with a 0% mortgage <\/a><\/p>\n No. 9: Corona del Mar retail center trades hands, a first in 80 years <\/a><\/p>\n