Rents in LA are climbing from their pandemic lows

For renters able to make a move, it was nice while it lasted. Rents in Los Angeles are back on the rise.

Apartment List found that the median rent is up 3.6 percent in L.A. from its lowest level in the past year, according to the L.A. Times.

Vacancy rates have tightened to 5.8 percent from a high of 6.2 percent in November.

Rents haven’t quite recovered to pre-pandemic levels, however. L.A. County’s median rent of $1,776 last month was 2.7 percent below February 2020’s median.

The dynamics vary across neighborhoods and price points. Suburban neighborhoods have generally seen stronger price growth than more dense neighborhoods.

The University of Southern California recently projected that some areas like West Riverside County, Rancho Cucamonga, and San Bernardino could see close to 10 percent rent growth in the year ahead.

The Inland Empire already recorded the highest quarterly rent growth in the country in the first three months of 2021.

CoStar found that the average rent per square foot in L.A.’s fanciest buildings is down 1.2 percent from March 2020, while it’s up 1.1 percent for the cheapest apartments.

Average rents in Hollywood are down 1.3 percent from March 2020. They’re down about half that percentage in Koreatown. Anecdotally, the swings are sometimes more drastic.

Chuck Eberly, whose company manages around 3,000 apartments in L.A., said that rents are up between 5 and 10 percent from their lowest levels last year, but said his rents are still 15 to 20 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels.

[LAT] — Dennis Lynch