Both apartment and housing costs remain exorbitant in Santa Monica, with one new report stating that the swath of Los Angeles that includes the city is an outlier in the competitive California rental market due to the pricing, while another report lands the city near the top of the most expensive home buying zip codes in the nation.
In a new study analyzing the hottest rental markets in the United States, RentCafe ranked Western Los Angeles County last out of 11 tracked California markets, citing a much lower lease renewal rate for renters in the area.
The RentCafe methodology delves into apartment metrics like occupancy rate, average vacancy days on the market, prospective renters per vacant unit, renewal lease rate and share of new apartments. Out of the 11 California markets, Western LA County ranks last in occupied apartments (92.3%), and last by a wide margin in lease renewal rate, around 39%.
That lease renewal rate pales in comparison to competitive California spots like Orange County (63.5%), Silicon Valley (55%) and Central Valley (53.3%). Another area where West LA was weak was in prospective renters per vacancy (9), far behind Eastern LA County’s 16.
A reason for lack of renewal rate across the area may just be the sheer price of rent, with median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica listed at $2,309, per ApartmentList. The number remains high despite another month-to-month drop (0.3%) through September, with the fall now at 6.1% year-to-year.
Just south of the city, one-bedroom apartments in Venice are even more pricey, listed at an average price of $2,737 per month on Apartments.com. Despite the drop in Santa Monica, Venice apartments have increased in price by 0.9% over the past year, per the site. The same website lists the average Marina del Rey one-bedroom at $3,496; a jump of 1.4% year-to-year.
Overall, what’s deemed as "peak rental season" by RentCafe has the United States apartment market "very competitive," with a higher renter lease renewal rate (62%) than this time last year (60.5%).
"In many cases, renters prefer to renew (as opposed to searching for a new place) during the moving rush because it helps them avoid rent increases that typically come with signing a new lease while potentially getting renewal incentives," RentCafe’s Veronica Grecu stated. "This choice often helps renters save money on moving costs, application fees and security deposits. Choosing to renew their leases also allows renters — especially families with children in school — to remain settled for longer."
The report particularly highlights the Midwest as a hotspot, with Suburban Chicago in a tie with Miami-Dade County for the highest competitive score.
"The Midwest’s transformation from its ‘Rust Belt’ past, driven by a diversified economy in tech and manufacturing, is attracting budget-conscious renters seeking affordability, amenities, and nature — in short, the persisting trend of 'hipsturbia,'" Grecu writes.
Another report by PropertyShark looked at the 100 most expensive zip codes in the United States by median closed home sale prices, with Los Angeles County dominating the list via 18 entries. Coming in 10th is 90402, the Santa Monica zip code that covers the North of Montana sector of the city. Though not at its peak as the third-most expensive zip code in 2019 and 2020, the 2024 median sale price of $4.41 million is still shocking to outsiders, and serves as the priciest zip code in all of LA County.
Coming in behind 90402 on the list for Los Angeles County were 90210 (Beverly Hills, #13) and 90265 (Malibu, #22), at median home sale prices of $4.013 million and $3.45 million, respectively.
For more information on the rent market report, visit rentcafe.com. For more on the home sale report, visit propertyshark.com.
thomas@smdp.com
