14 Apr Prices of homes for rent in San Diego to increase

Think the price of your rental in San Diego is expensive? It might go even higher in the very near future, a USC study released this week found.

A USC real estate school study predicts prices of  homes for rent in San Diego could soon reach record levels — predicted to rise faster over the next two years than the rest of Southern California. San Diego’s rent increases are expected to outpace Orange County, Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. Rentals in San Diego are expected to increase by $155 a month by 2018. In San Diego, the average rental price is $1,618 a month.

The squeeze on rental properties comes at a time when there is a lack of new home building, employment is strong, and the population is growing. Those factors mean rental prices could boost the market for real estate in San Diego, as more former renters opt to become homeowners, given price hikes. Affordability remains an issue. New rental properties and apartments have been sold, acquired, built or are in various stages of approval during the past few months. But that may do little to avoid price increases.

San Diego renters feeling the pinch

Higher rental prices are, in part, blamed on a lower amount of residents moving to San Diego than those who moved out. More than a quarter of the population spends half their income on rent, a 2015 study found.

From July 2014 to July 2015, about 9,730 more residents packed it up and moved than new residents who moved to San Diego County. That resulted in negative net migration — the difference between those who moved to San Diego compared to those who moved away — and is at a new low, new population data by the U.S. Census Bureau found. Still, the area is in the midst of a mini building boom. The USC study found  6,273 construction permits were issued for multi-family home construction in San Diego last year.

San Diegans spent $4.9 billion on rent last year, up 3 percent from 2014.