LA slows its roll on rising rent prices

Good news for renters — Los Angeles rents are rising at their slowest rate in five years.

Average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now $1,720, a 2.6 percent increase from a year ago while a two-bedroom apartment is up 2.3 percent, to $2,190, according to CoStar data first reported by Curbed.

The first quarter of 2019 is on pace to see rent growth at below 3 percent year over year for the first time since 2014, according to the report.

Some city around L.A. have already instituted temporary rent-hike freezes to ease pressure on tenants, including leaders in Inglewood, L.A. County, and Glendale. The wave of rent-hike freezes followed the statewide voter rejection of Proposition 10, the ballot initiative that would have allowed for sweeping new rent regulations across California.

The data illustrates how strong the rental market has been over the last several years in the city. That’s been a boon for landlords and investors, who have poured billions of dollars into L.A.’s multifamily market. Around $10 billion worth of apartment buildings traded from June 2017 to June 2018 alone, more than any other period in history.

Rents have even risen along with vacancy, because many of the residential projects that have come online over the last several years are in the highest price bracket.

Growth in home prices is set to cool somewhat this year in the city compared to the U.S. Zillow expects prices in L.A. to grow by 5 percent, behind the 7.7 percent projected nationwide average. [Curbed] — Dennis Lynch