San Diego Fifth Most Expensive Multifamily Market in US

Nat Kunes

San Diego is officially one of the most expensive multifamily markets in the US, according to new research from AppFolio and ALN. The market has seen increasing apartment rental rates over the last several years, and has broken into the list of the top five most expensive in the country at number five. San Diego’s average rental rate is $1,871 or $2.17 per square foot. The list now has three California cities with Los Angeles at number four and San Francisco ranking number one.

“In the past, San Diego has been close but hasn’t ever broken the top five. It wasn’t a surprise, but there has been a shift in jobs,” Nat Kunes VP of product management at AppFolio, tells GloebSt.com. “There has been a lot of job growth in the tech industry in areas like San Diego, and that has been driving a lot of the rent growth. That had happened in Sacramento, and we are seeing a similar pattern in San Diego. There are more start-ups in the area, and that is taking talent from Los Angeles or the Bay Area. That is driving some of the change in rental demand. In addition, some of the new development going on there has been driving up the overall rent growth in the city to make it a top-five rental location.”