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Residential
Los Angeles

California apartment rents slide for the fifth straight month

Rents are still up 1.5% from January 2022, and 12% from pre-pandemic January 2020

Apartments, calendar, graph line
(Illustration by The Real Deal with Getty)
By
Feb 13, 2023, 6:40 PM

Apartment rents in major cities across California fell for five straight months, though they’re still higher than they were last year.

Average lease rates in 50 large cities were $2,088 in January, down 0.5 percent from December as the economy cooled and the demand for larger living spaces dipped, the Orange County Register reported, citing data from ApartmentList.

Since 2018, January rents had averaged a 0.1 percent gain from the previous month, according to an analysis by the newspaper.

Rents statewide were up 1.5 percent compared to January 2022, and 12 percent above what landlords charged in January 2020, before the pandemic.

But the rental market continues to tilt toward the tenant, according to the Register, with rents dropping in 72 percent of the 50 cities last month, down from 84 percent the previous month.

The decline is slowing, however. January’s 0.5 percent one-month rent dip is the smallest since September, when the decline in rents began. 

Across the state, the biggest one-month rent drops were in Vista, off 2.5 percent to $2,196; followed by Irvine, off  2.3 percent to $2,996; and Santa Rosa, off 1.9 percent to $1,818.

The biggest 12-month rent drops were in Roseville, off 4.4 percent to $2,105; Ventura, off 3.8 percent to $2,048; and Costa Mesa, off 3.5 percent to $2,461.

The biggest three-year rent drops were in Oakland, off 15 percent to $1,613; San Francisco, off 13 percent to $2,174; and Berkeley, off 10 percent to $1,740.

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The largest one-month rent hikes were in Glendale, up 1.3 percent to $2,100; followed by Pomona, up 1.1 percent to $1,894; and Fresno, up 0.8 percent to $1,311.

Among California’s 50 large cities, the highest rents were in Mission Viejo at $3,004, Irvine at $2,996 and Carlsbad at $2,969. The lowest rents were in Fresno at $1,311, Oakland at $1,613 and Sacramento at $1,615.

Among the top 10, rents in Los Angeles were $1,870, down 0.3 percent in a month, up 1.1 percent in a year, and up 6 percent in three years.

Average rents in San Jose were $2,370, down 0.4 percent in a month, up 4.9 percent in a year, and up 2 percent in three years.

Rents in San Francisco were $2,174, down 1.1 percent in a month, up 0.6 percent in a year, and down 13 percent in three years.

Rents in Long Beach were $1,662, down 0.7 percent in a month, up 2 percent in a year, and up 15 percent in three years.

Rents in Oakland were $1,613 monthly, down 0.9 percent in a month, down 3.3 percent in a year, and down 15 percent in three years.

In Orange County, rents in Anaheim were $2,243, up 0.3 percent in a month, up 4.1 percent in a year, and up 26 percent in three years.

Rents in Santa Ana were $2,115, up 0.3 percent in a month, down 0.6 percent in a year, and up 22 percent in three years.

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