Santa Monica Rents Continue to Rise, New Survey Finds

By Niki Cervantes
Staff Writer

July 5, 2017 -- Santa Monica apartment rental rates -- already among Southern California's highest -- inched up 1.1 percent in June, marking the fifth consecutive month rents have increased, a new survey has found.

The city’s rents were up moderately -- or 4 percent -- compared to the same time last year, according to the report by Apartment List, a heavily used site for people hunting for dwelling units throughout the country.

Currently, median rents in Santa Monica are $1,650 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,120 for a two-bedroom.

Although not hit by the skyrocketing rent increases of recent years, Santa Monica remained among the nation’s priciest places for apartment dwellers, the survey found.

In Southern California, the survey cites four other cities with median rents for two-bedroom apartments higher than Santa Monica.

They are Laguna Beach, where median rents jumped 12 percent -- the highest in Southern California -- to reach $2,670 for a two-bedroom unit.

Following were Irvine, at $2,610; Santa Clarita, at $2,470; and Huntington Beach, at $2,360.

Among some of the nation’s most big popular cities, Santa Monica also continues to occupy a high rental perch.

No. 1 on the list was San Francisco, with a monthly median rental of two-bedroom apartments of $3,020 (a slight decrease year to date), followed by New York City, at $2,480.

Also on the list is Boston, at $2,090; Seattle, at $1,680; and Washington D.C., at $1,540.

After shaking off the winter blues, Santa Monica followed a nationwide trend of small hikes in February, the report said, with slow growth afterward.

California as a whole logged rent growth of 4.2 percent over the past year, about twice the national rate of growth.

Other highlights of the report:

Pomona has the least expensive rents in the Los Angeles metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,460; the city has also experienced the fastest rent growth in the metro area, with a year-over-year increase of 9.3 percent.

In the last month, Glendale has seen the biggest rent drop in the metro area, with a 0.6 percent decline. The median price of a two-bedroom unit was $1,760, while one-bedrooms go for $1,370.

In the rest of the state, Fremont is the most expensive of all California's major cities outside the Los Angeles metro area, with a median two-bedroom rent of $3,550.

Sacramento, Chula Vista, and Fresno have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (8.2 percent, 6.7 percent, and 5.5 percent, respectively).

For the full report click here