Report claims LA rent is actually decreasing

Rent is actually decreasing in Los Angeles, a new report claims.

Rental rates at L.A. apartments decreased by 5 percent from April to May, according to Abodo, an apartment search platform. The company ranked L.A. at No. 6 in the entire U.S. on a list of the biggest rent drops during that period.

San Antonio saw the biggest rent decrease, at 13 percent.

Rent growth across different cities varied widely from the national average of 0.5 percent growth, the report said. Seattle saw the biggest average monthly rent increase of 11 percent. Anchorage, Alaska, was second with 9 percent and Kansas City, Missouri, was third with 7 percent.

Meanwhile, apartment sales across the U.S. are on an upswing. Apartment sales grew 33 percent last year to reach $151.8 billion, and in the first quarter of this year, sales have already reached $38.6 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics data cited in the report.

Nationally, developers are expected to complete 285,000 residential buildings this year, compared to last year’s 250,000, the report said.

However, analysts at Marcus & Millichap said there may be a bigger gap between asking rates and prices that buyers are willing to pay.

Student housing in particular, Abodo reported, has drawn the interest of investors. Last year, student housing investment sales were anticipated to reach $4.5 billion — 50 percent higher than sales from 2014, the report said.

Last month, L.A. was named the fifth worst city for renters by Forbes.