IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The Inland Empire retail market got off to a somewhat slow start in 2025, posting a 6.8 percent availability rate for the first quarter, up from 6.5 percent one year earlier.
Net absorption also moved in the wrong direction during the first three months of the year: minus-361,000 square feet, down from plus-415,000 square feet year-over-year, according to CBRE.
“Available retail space remained on the market for extended periods, eventually going vacant as new leasing activity slowed,” the report states.
One hundred twenty-one thousand square of retail space was added in Riverside and San Bernardino counties during the first quarter, a trend driven by population growth and consumer spending.
The average asking rent of $1.72 per square foot was only two cents lower than the fourth quarter of 2024. That small decline marked the third consecutive quarter of falling rents, a “rebalancing” trend from the strong growth of the first half of 2024, the report states.
