2.5% vacancy. Live from the NGP-Rental-Data warehouse — Zillow ZORI rent index plus Census ACS demographics, updated monthly.
| Metric | Irvine | OC city average |
|---|---|---|
| ZORI rent index | $3,335 | $3,184 |
| Typical 2-BR rent | $3,499 | $3,492 |
| Vacancy rate | 2.5% | 3.8% |
| YoY rent change | +2.2% | +2.5% |
| Cap rate (overall) | 4.0% | 4.4% |
| $/unit (MFR) | $384,000 | $306,444 |
| Renter household share | 55.5% | 43.6% |
Source: NGP-Rental-Data warehouse — Zillow ZORI (rent index), NGC managed-portfolio ticker (cap rate, $/unit, typical-bedroom rent, monthly vacancy), Census ACS5 2019-2024 (renter share, demographics). Bedroom-specific 1-BR and 3-BR rent + days-to-lease pending HUD FMR integration (see /methodology/). Updated March 2026.
Monthly Zillow ZORI rent index. Data updates monthly. Source: methodology.
Irvine doesn't have ten developers fighting over land. It has one master landowner — the Irvine Company — and a rollout schedule that gets paced against absorption. New product lands when the village it's in needs it. Compare to Anaheim's Platinum Triangle, where 1,100+ units delivered in a single year and rent growth flattened materially.
That's not a coincidence. It's the difference between metered supply and lumpy supply.
Tech, biotech, and large-employer healthcare are doing most of the work. The renter base skews professional, dual-income, often international, and willing to pay above market because the alternative is a longer commute.
Current overall cap rate per the warehouse: 4.0%. The spread is narrow because the perceived risk on Irvine product is low and competing buyer pools are deep.
Irvine is a renter-majority city — 55.5% renter household share per Census ACS5. That's well above the OC city average of 43.6%. The implication for owners: the buyer pool for sub-$1.5M condos competes with a deep renter pool for the same units, which holds bid prices firm.
Statewide rent cap is 5% plus CPI under AB 1482. With Irvine's underlying market growing +2.2%, the legal ceiling and the market are typically in different neighborhoods — the cap binds in tight years and not in soft ones. Worth checking before issuing a notice. Operative rules at calandlordlaws.com/rent-control.
Yes. 2.5% vacancy vs the OC city average of 3.8%. Irvine has been at or near the top of the tightness rankings for most of the past decade. The reason is supply discipline, not demand spikes.
Two reasons. The Irvine Company owns and controls the rollout of most large-scale residential land in the city, so new supply gets metered rather than dumped. Second, the tech and healthcare employer base has held up while other OC submarkets are flat. +2.2% YoY against an OC city average of +2.5% is the result.
Roughly 4.0% overall per NGC observations of recent OC trades. Directional estimates only — a specific deal moves with condition, rent roll, and timing.
Partially. The school-pull is real and measurable in lease velocity for 3-BR units in Northwood and Woodbridge, where families compete on application day one. But the bulk of the rent premium over Anaheim or Santa Ana traces back to the employer base and the supply discipline. Schools are the multiplier; supply is the floor.
55.5% per Census ACS5 — well above the OC city average of 43.6%. The renter base is broad and the buyer pool for entry-level condos has to compete with it.
We pull comps from the portfolio NGC manages plus current listings — not a generic algorithm. No obligation, no upsell. Usually a one-day turnaround.
Request a rental analysis →