Item No. _9
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STAFF REPORT
DATE: February 23, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dr. Sean M. Moore, City Manager !�
PREPARED BY: Fermin Preciado, Director of Development Services LK fz> ►� I F' Benjamin J. Matlock, Deputy Director of Community Development17A_� SUBJECT: City of Yucaipa Home Vacancy Rates and Ownership RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council:
1. Receive and file a presentation regarding the City's housing stock; or
2. Provide further direction to staff.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
At the regular Council Meeting of January 26, 2026, Council directed staff to provide information on the City's residential home ownership and vacancy statistics to better understand the housing market conditions of the community. In recent years, there has been concern about large-scale investors purchasing single family housing stock, which could then create an impact on the overall affordability of the local community as potential homeowners are pushed out of the market in favor of investors with significantly larger capital funds. However, this trend has not directly impacted the City of Yucaipa, based on the information provided below', but can be an ongoing concern to ensure that Yucaipa homes are accessible for Yucaipa residents.
Per the 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) results, the vacancy rate is 3.9%, meaning that less than 4 percent of all the different types of households are vacant, with a homeowner vacancy rate of
0.8 and rental vacancy rate of 0.6. For reference, a healthy housing market is generally considered when the vacancy rates are between 6-8% for rental housing and 1.3-2% for owner housing — lower vacancy rates means that the supply is extremely limited, resulting in higher housing costs and less opportunities for housing, whereas higher rates mean there is a surplus of vacant homes. Of all the homes in Yucaipa, 73.4% of the homes are owned by the people living in them while 26.6% of the homes are being rented/leased by a tenant living in the homes.
For comparison, our 6`h cycle Housing Element provides the 2018 ACS results, and the vacancy rate was 7.2%, with a homeowner vacancy rate of 3.0 and renter vacancy rate of 9.0. The owner -occupied ' All data is from the United States Census 5-year American Community Survey DP04 Tables. 02/23/2026 City Council Agenda
rate is 72% vs renter rate was 28%. The graphs below show the overall housing trends, and offer a comparison between the City, the state, and the entire United States.
75.0%
70.0%
65.0%
60.0%
55.0%
50.0%
45.0%
14.0%
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Homeownership Rate
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
—*—Yucaipa -=California —*—United States
Vacancy Rate
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
— 1 -Yucaipa —o—California t—United States
02/23/2026 City Council Agenda
3 2.5
2 1.5
1 0.5
0 7
6 5
4 3
i,
1 0
Homeowner Vacancy Rate
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
—O—Yucaipa r=2�—California tUnited States
Rental Vacancy Rates
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
—40—Yucaipa --.,—California tUnited States
The City of Yucaipa's Housing Element notes that Yucaipa's "higher homeownership rate is due to the following: (1) the higher proportion of single-family units built compared to apartments in recent years; (2) older demographics that have higher homeownership rates; and (3) most of the residential land is general planned for single-family homes." As shown in the prior tables, the vacancy rate for all housing in Yucaipa has decreased, with the City's rental housing market having shown the largest decreases. This trend also impacts the overall affordability of housing, and over 21 % of Yucaipa homeowners with a mortgage spend over 3 5 % of their household income for their housing cost, and almost 40 percent of renters in Yucaipa over 35% of their household income for their housing cost. 02/23/2026 City Council Agenda
FISCAL IMPACT:
The recommendations do not result in a fiscal impact.
02/23/2026 City Council Agenda