Rising Rents Make Buying More Attractive

It’s official: Rental rates are on the rise! Constrained supply of new apartments, and several years of slumping housing markets are driving vacancy rates lower. Reis, Inc. reports that the national effective rent has increased from $974 last year to $997, while vacancy rates fell from 7.8% to 6%, the lowest since 2008. While a 2.4% rise in rental rates isn’t the end of the world for renters, it does make the case for buying a home marginally stronger. That’s especially true given that mortgage rates have moved off their lows, and are edging higher.

Rents Are Dropping In Manhattan Beach. National rental markets may be heating up, which is great for buyers and landlords, but Manhattan Beach is seeing the opposite: Rental rates are crashing! Median rental rates have dropped 18.1% in Manhattan Beach over the last year:

90266 Median Rent List Price

In Rent Or Buying In The South Bay I speculate that Manhattan Beach home prices are near an equivalency point with respect to renting, and that’s despite the 18.1% drop in median rents. This is just another example of how real estate markets truly are local!

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