By Jorge Casuso

May 30, 2024 -- Santa Monica rent growth remains sluggish, with median prices dipping by -0.2 percent in May, marking the fourth monthly drop this year, according to the rent report by Apartment List released Thursday.

Santa Monica's -4.2 percent rent decrease over the past 12 months is more pronounced than the -0.9 percent dip for the state and -0.8 percent for the nation, according to data based on the site's listings.

Still, the doldrums affecting Santa Monica's rental market reflect a nationwide trend that could last through the summer, Apartment List researchers wrote.

"This is typically the time of year when rent growth is accelerating amid the busy moving season, so sluggish growth this month indicates that the market is headed for another slow summer," researchers wrote.

"Since the second half of 2022, seasonal declines have been steeper than usual and seasonal increases have been more mild. As a result, apartments are on average slightly cheaper today than they were one year ago."

The overall median rent in Santa Monica stands at $2,463, slightly down from $2,472 in April, according to the monthly report. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,331 and $2,795 for a two-bedroom.

Santa Monica's median rent is $271 above the $2,192 median rent for the 25 LA and Orange county cities included in Apartment List's database. And it is far above the national median rent of $1,404.

Calabasas is currently the most expensive of the LA area cities, with a median rent of $3,313, while Long Beach is the metro’s most affordable city, with a median rent of $1,784.

The overall median rent in Los Angeles stands at $2,093, roughly the same as last month.

The metro's fastest annual rent growth is taking place in Mission Viejo (3.3 percent), while the slowest is in West Hollywood (-7.1 percent), according to the report.

This year's rent "trajectory" reflects last year's "pronounced swing into positive rent growth" in February and March, "followed by growth flattening out and then tapering off," researchers wrote.

"This February and March, the data again seemed to reflect the start of a bounceback, but the two months since have been more reflective of the sluggishness which has characterized the rental market since late 2022."

While demand for apartments remains strong, the report predicts that "a steady supply of new construction gives renters plenty of options and prevents prices from taking off."

Apartment List Rent Report data are drawn monthly from the millions of listings on the site, according to the website.

The report calculates one-bedroom and two-bedroom rents and "aims to identify transacted rent prices, as opposed to the listed rent prices." To view the full report click here.