Virus chills California landlords’ pricing power
It took a virus, not political action, to prune the pricing power of California landlords.
The coronavirus has hammered the state economy, and the once rock-solid residential rental market has been especially hard hit. Data from the Consumer Price Index shows us that business limitations designed to slow the pandemic’s spread have dramatically changed consumer spending habits — just as California voters will weigh a rent- control measure Nov. 3.
My trusty spreadsheet looked at three California metro areas tracked by the CPI and found that the pace of rent increases has slowed dramatically this year.
For example, rent hikes in Los Angeles and Orange counties in September dropped by the largest amount since the Great Recession ended. The metro’s cost of renting rose at a 2.6% annual rate in September — the lowest rate since 2014 — versus 5.6% a year earlier. The last time the region saw a bigger one-year percentage-point drop was 2010.
In San Francisco, Alameda, Marin, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties, rental costs rose by 2.2% in the year compared with 3.1% a year earlier. The last time rents rose slower, by this measure, was 2011.
And in the Inland Empire, where the CPI has tracked inflation for just two years, rents rose at a 3.6% annual rate versus 4.7% in September 2019.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI tracks rental costs by polling a wide swath of consumers in various rental arrangements. It differs from many other rent measurements derived from surveys of apartment landlords. These industry indexes suggest similar trends: Property owners’ asking prices are, at best, flat in Southern California and falling in the Bay Area.
Tough business
No matter the math, landlords are finding business difficult these days.
Business lockdowns have hammered the employment market, pushing the state’s unemployment rate to 11.4%. Lower-paying service jobs often held by renters were most affected.
Many tenants can’t pay — and more than a few have simply departed. The Census Bureau’s experimental survey into pandemic fallout shows 12% of California renters have no confidence they can pay October’s rent, or will defer it. Meanwhile, 13% said they fear eviction in the next two months.
A statewide eviction moratorium adds to the market’s complexities. At the same