Los Angeles apartment rents have fallen 1% since the onset of the pandemic, according to a new report from Apartment List. The report shows that the average rent for a one-bedroom is $1,357 for a one-bedroom apartment, while a two-bedroom averages $1,744.
"Traditionally, seasonality in the market causes rents to flatten or drop during the winter months and then spike during the spring and summer," Rob Warnock, research associate at Apartment List, tells GlobeSt.com. "So before the pandemic, the trend in Los Angeles didn't look out of the ordinary, but the pandemic has certainly caused a peak-season rent decline that otherwise would have been extremely unlikely."
Los Angeles rents are stable compared to other markets, like San Francisco, New York and San Jose. In those two markets, rents have fallen 3.3%, 2.8% and 2.2% respectively. "For being such an expensive city, Los Angeles has a relatively large and diverse housing supply," says Warnock. "So I suspect there are a lot of pockets of the city that are relatively affordable to start, and are now seeing a huge rush of demand that prevents their prices from falling in a substantial way."
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While Los Angeles is out performing other major metros so far, this is likely the beginning of a more dramatic rent decrease in the market. "We expect rents to continue trickling down as long as the local economy remains depressed and unemployment remains high," says Warnock. "This is forcing the vast majority of movers to look for cheaper housing, so as vacancies open up there will be pressure on landlords to reduce rents or offer deals to attract their next tenant."
While it is still early, migration out of Los Angeles hasn't changed much compared to pre-pandemic trends. The rental rate decrease could also reverse the exodus from Los Angeles. "Last summer, we found that 26% of apartment searches coming from L.A. residents were to leave the metro area," says Warnock. "This summer, even in light of the pandemic, that share is up only one percentage point. So while many renters may have to move to match a new economic reality, it doesn't look like Angelenos are now suddenly much more likely to leave the region than they were before."
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Kelsi Maree Borland
