Southern California Retail continues to slump; underperforming its major market peers

Retail in Los Angeles, Inland Empire, Orange County, and San Diego all experienced an increase in negative net absorption over last 3 quarters which can be attributed to lingering effects of COVID-19 (daytime working population decrease) and landlords’ hesitancy to lower asking rates.

Fast growing markets in the West US such as Phoenix and Las Vegas continue to capture a well above average share of demand gains, due to strong population and consumption growth. Both cities have low income taxes and cheaper cost of living, which can be credited for the rapid growth in each of those markets.

Los Angeles finds itself ranked last, as a tier-one market, when compared to San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Seattle.