Invest In Apartment Buildings In Costa Mesa, CA

Who Rents In Costa Mesa, And Why

Costa Mesa is a renter's city. Renters make up 60.4% of households in Costa Mesa, CA, about 25,564 households in all, compared with 44.1% across California (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024). Median household income is $111,505, up 32.5% over five years, and the housing stock is older, with a median year built of 1972. That combination of high incomes and aging buildings is the starting point for most apartment syndications in Costa Mesa.

The jobs behind that demand are a mix of corporate offices, retail, education and defense technology. The city's 2023 Community Economic Profile lists Experian, the Automobile Club of Southern California, Deloitte, Vans, the Coast Community College District and Orange Coast College among its notable employers. Anduril Industries runs its headquarters at The Press, a campus of roughly 634,000 square feet on Sunflower Avenue that it agreed to fully occupy under a 2021 lease. When the owners put the campus up for sale in June 2026, the Orange County Business Journal reported about 13 years left on that lease, and Anduril leases close to 1.5 million square feet across the county. South Coast Plaza and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts add a large retail and hospitality workforce in South Coast Metro, and Orange Coast College brings a student and staff population of its own.

For an owner, that means a deep pool of tenants who earn well but still rent, partly because buying a house nearby is out of reach for many of them. It also means pressure: 53.1% of Costa Mesa renters spend 30% or more of income on housing, so there is a ceiling on how far rents can be pushed in older buildings before turnover rises.

New Supply And Rents In Costa Mesa

Very little new apartment supply has reached Costa Mesa lately. The city's 2024 General Plan and Housing Element annual report counted 275 housing units built in 2024, and 200 of them came from a single building, the Lux Apartments at 2277 Harbor Boulevard. Most of the rest were accessory dwelling units. The largest project on the books, One Metro West at 1683 Sunflower Avenue, was approved for 1,057 units, but the city's report listed it as not yet built, and the developers had told the Business Journal in 2023 that full delivery could take until 2034. A second large proposal at 3333 Susan Street, about 1,050 units, was still under review. Neither should be counted as supply until it breaks ground.

Census data shows the same tight picture. The rental vacancy rate is 4.3%, and median gross rent is $2,446 a month, up 31.7% from $1,857 in the 2015–2019 survey (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024). The count of homes in buildings with 5 or more units is 14,759, or 33.2% of the stock, which the Census puts 10.0% lower than five years earlier. A drop that size is hard to square with the city's permit records, and ACS estimates for a city this size carry a margin of error, so treat that change as a rough signal at best. HUD's fiscal 2027 Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom in the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine area is $3,057 a month.

On rents, a Matthews report on Orange County for the second quarter of 2025, drawing on CoStar data, said Costa Mesa rents fell from mid-2022 into early 2023 and have been rising again as demand improved. The same report placed most of the county's construction pipeline in Irvine, which leaves Costa Mesa owners competing mainly with each other rather than with lease-ups next door.

For a buyer, the opportunity is mostly in the existing stock. Many Costa Mesa apartment buildings are 1960s and 1970s product, so the questions that matter are the cost of deferred maintenance, how far renovated units can be priced above unrenovated ones without losing tenants, and whether One Metro West actually starts construction during the hold period.

Costa Mesa Neighborhoods We Watch

The city's General Plan splits Costa Mesa into distinct residential areas, and the rental stock changes a lot from one side of Harbor Boulevard to the other.

How Costa Mesa Ranks For Apartment Investors

Among the 276 California cities we track, Costa Mesa ranks 76th for median gross rent, 19th for renter share and 157th for five-year rent growth. Its rents fall in the middle of the pack. Compared with the 2015–2019 survey, Costa Mesa now has about 2,829 fewer residents, 278 more renter households and 1,640 fewer homes in buildings with 5 or more units.

How Costa Mesa Compares With Nearby Markets

Costa Mesa's median gross rent of $2,446 is above the California median of $2,036, and its renter share is 60.4% compared with 44.1% statewide.

Costa Mesa Rent Affordability In Dollars

At $2,446 a month, the median Costa Mesa rent adds up to $29,352 a year, or roughly 26.3% of what the median household earns. Under the common 30% guideline, a household needs about $97,800 a year to cover that rent comfortably. That's a heavier load than the California average of 24.6%. Renters usually earn less than the all-household median, so the real burden for tenants is higher than this simple ratio shows.

In dollars, Costa Mesa rent climbed $589 a month over five years and household income climbed $27,350 a year. The two have moved together, so affordability today looks much like it did five years ago. HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit, $3,057, is 25% above the median gross rent for all unit sizes. That gap matters for buildings that accept Housing Choice Vouchers, since local housing authorities base voucher payment standards on it.

Costa Mesa Apartment Market Key Facts

Here's the Costa Mesa rental market in short form, with the source on every figure.

• Costa Mesa, CA has 110,330 residents, down 2.5% from the 2015–2019 survey (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• Median household income in Costa Mesa, CA is $111,505, up 32.5% over five years (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• Median gross rent in Costa Mesa, CA is $2,446 a month, up 31.7% over five years (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• 60.4% of households in Costa Mesa, CA rent, about 25,564 renter households (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• 33.2% of homes in Costa Mesa, CA are in buildings with 5 or more units (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• The rental vacancy rate in Costa Mesa, CA is 4.3%, and 53.1% of renters spend 30% or more of income on rent (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• The median home in Costa Mesa, CA was built in 1972 (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).

What We Look For In A Costa Mesa Apartment Building

We look at buildings with 5 or more units in Costa Mesa, from small walk-ups to larger garden-style communities, in stabilized or value-add condition. We compare in-place rents with nearby buildings, inspect roofs, plumbing and HVAC, and ask whether better management or targeted renovation can close the gap with the market.

Property taxes are a big line item for any California apartment building. We estimate the tax bill as it will be after the purchase, because a sale can trigger a reassessment in many places. California caps annual rent increases on most apartments older than 15 years under the Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482), and cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland have stricter local rent control. Our rent-control guides explain how these rules work. Insurance quotes in California reflect wildfire risk, so we get a quote before we make an offer.

After a stretch of fast rent growth, we keep rent assumptions modest and leave room for concessions if new supply opens nearby.

Due Diligence For Apartment Syndications In Costa Mesa

The data on this page turns into a short checklist for evaluating an apartment syndication in Costa Mesa.

• What vacancy does the plan assume? Rental vacancy in Costa Mesa is 4.3%. A plan that assumes much lower vacancy than the market should explain why.
• What rent growth is underwritten? Rents here rose 31.7% over five years. Ask whether the plan assumes that pace continues, and what happens to the deal if rents stay flat.
• How was the property tax bill estimated? A sale often triggers a reassessment, so the bill after purchase can be well above what the seller pays today.
• What capital work is budgeted? The median home in Costa Mesa was built in 1972, so roofs, plumbing and electrical systems deserve their own line items.
• How and when does capital come back? Ask what the plan is for a refinance or sale, and what happens if that takes longer than expected.

How Passive Investing In A Costa Mesa Apartment Syndication Works

Two groups make an apartment syndication work. The sponsor, or general partner, handles the deal: finding the building, financing it and running the business plan. The limited partners are passive investors who contribute capital and share in the property's results under the offering's terms.

It's a long-term commitment. The property has to be refinanced or sold before most capital comes back, and the outcome isn't certain. Eligibility rules vary by offering, and most are limited to accredited investors. See investing with Skyline Capital for how we work with limited partners.

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