2025 Education Conference & Rental Housing EXPO Recap

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the 2025 Southern California Rental Housing Expo, themed “Rocking the Rental Housing Industry,” on May 8 at the Town & Country Hotel in San Diego!

With more than 100 exhibitors, our beloved “Maintenance Mania” competition, and educational sessions, the event was a reminder that what we do matters. Thank you to all of our sponsors and presenters. And kudos to our hard-working team who made it all happen – including Molly Kirkland, SCRHA’s Director of Public Affairs, who updated members on the changing legislative landscape.

The highlight of the day was the “State of the Apartment Industry” keynote by Joshua Ohl, Senior Director of Market Analytics at CoStar Group. Josh, who monitors data from 283,000 properties in San Diego, offered a data-driven look at our region’s multifamily housing landscape.

Key takeaways about the San Diego market included:

• Demand is stabilizing: After several periods of declining occupancy in Class B and C properties, San Diego has now seen three consecutive quarters of strong demand, with overall occupancy at about 94.8%.
• Vacancies are lasting longer: As a result, concessions are widespread – from rent credits to gift cards – as operators prioritize keeping units full over short-term rent growth.
• Rent growth has slowed dramatically and was negative in April 2025, a rarity outside of the 2020 pandemic shutdown.
• Construction remains active locally, but future supply is at risk. There has been a shift toward studios and one-bedrooms, which now make up over 60% of new builds – raising concerns about the ability to meet the needs of growing families.
• San Diego remains a strong investment market, despite high interest rates and a challenging environment. Investors see long-term value in our region. In some cases, investors see opportunities to take advantage of a low cost per square foot on obsolete commercial properties – the old Fry’s Electronics big box store site, as one example – and convert them to housing.

Josh reminded us not to treat the last few years as a “new normal.” The intense rent growth and household shifts during the pandemic were anomalies – not benchmarks. To understand where we’re headed, we need to look back to pre-2020 market conditions.

Josh’s presentation underscored the paradoxical moment our industry is in: strong demand and stabilizing fundamentals, yet persistent affordability challenges and policy uncertainty.

Again, we hope you enjoyed the Expo – and now we are looking forward to our upcoming classes and events. Be sure to register for Solution Series: Small Claims Court on June 17. This webinar with Mark Feinberg, Heinz & Feinberg, will include the same briefing Mark gives his clients before they go off to court. Register today to gain these valuable insights for a fraction of the cost.