Average apartment rent dips slightly

Santa Clarita residents paid $10 less per month, but region still has some of the highest prices in the country

The average renter in Santa Clarita paid $10 less per month for a two-bedroom apartment, but the city still outpaces much of Southern California as home to some of the highest rents in the country.

ApartmentList.com issued its monthly rental report Monday, saying rents dropped 0.5 percent compared to November, the second consecutive monthly decrease; but they’re up 6.9 percent compared to December 2016. Santa Clarita’s year-over-year rent growth beats the state average of 4.4 percent. The national average is 2.7 percent.

“We have a housing crisis,” said Nancy Starczyk, a Santa Clarita-based member of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors board of directors. “Rents are going up twice as fast.”

Starczyk said the market demand exceeds supply, and house rental prices are up 4 percent, while the prices for homes sold have only increased 2 percent in the last year.

“In order to fix this, we need to have wages go up,” she said, adding that there was hope among realtors that the tax reform package signed into law by President Donald Trump last month would help increase wages.

Last month marked the second straight month of rate decreases after an increase in October, the study said.

Starcyzk said the top draws for people moving to Santa Clarita are the schools and the business climate, citing the growth of Logix and Scorpion, as well as the city’s lack of a business tax.

Median rents for a one-bedroom

apartment cost $1,940 and $2,490 for a two-bedroom in December. One month prior, the median two-bedroom apartment price was $2,500, while the price for a onebedroom rental remained at $1,940.

“Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of Santa Clarita, but across the entire metro,” the report said. “Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in the Los Angeles metro, all of them have seen prices rise.”

Los Angeles had median prices at $1,340 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,720 for a two-bedroom, while Pasadena had prices at $1,620 and $2,080, respectively. Irvine had the highest averages in the Los Angeles region at $2,100 and $2,700 respectively.

San Francisco leads the state and nation’s median prices at $2,430 for a one-bedroom and $3,050 for a two-bedroom. San Jose costs $2,030 and $2,550, respectively, while New York costs $2,080 and $2,480, respectively.

Starcyzk said landlords are concerned about potential rent control legislation by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

“It defers maintenance and improvement of properties,” she said.

Starcyzk said the five supervisors have each named two appointees for a task force to study rent control. A spokesperson for Supervisor Kathryn Barger said her appointees to the Tenant Protections Working Group are Dr. Richard Green from the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate and Patrick Spillane of IDS Real Estate Group.

The board approved a motion in October to look into the feasibility of rent control in mobile home parks, but landlords are concerned that motion may be extended to all rental properties.