The tightest rental markets continue to be in southern Santa Barbara County and Ventura County. The rental vacancy rates in these two areas are less than 5 percent. The overall Los Angeles County vacancy rate remained at about 8 percent, with some areas of the San Fernando Valley still experiencing vacancy rates exceeding 10 percent. The rental vacancy rate in the Riverside-San Bernardino market remained at about 9 percent during the third quarter of 1998, with the majority of the vacancies at the lower end of the market. Las Vegas is the Nation's fifth-largest metropolitan area for multifamily housing so far this year.
Concessions remain widespread at the upper end of the market, but vacancies have declined recently.
The strength of the Phoenix area carried Arizona to 9,684 multifamily units authorized, up 9 percent. The University of Arizona forecasts population gains of more than 17,000 persons annually during the next 5 years. The unemployment rate was an extremely tight 2.8 percent in August. Tucson's major industries are defense, high- technology manufacturing, software development, tourism, and higher education. The area's largest private employer is Raytheon, formerly Hughes Missile Systems, which employs 7,700 and is expected to add up to 1,300 workers during the next 12 months.