Welcome to the September 2018 Santa Monica Rent Report. Santa Monica rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Santa Monica rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
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Welcome to the September 2018 Santa Monica Rent Report. Santa Monica rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Santa Monica rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
Santa Monica rents have declined 0.5% over the past month, and are down moderately by 1.4% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Santa Monica stand at $1,650 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,120 for a two-bedroom. This is the second straight month that the city has seen rent decreases after an increase in June. Santa Monica's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 1.4%, as well as the national average of 1.0%.
While rent prices have decreased in Santa Monica over the past year, the rest of the metro is seeing the opposite trend. Rents have risen in all of the largest 10 cities in the Los Angeles metro for which we have data. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
As rents have fallen moderately in Santa Monica, many large cities nationwide have seen prices increase, in some cases substantially. Compared to most large cities across the country, Santa Monica is less affordable for renters.
| City | Median 1BR price | Median 2BR price | M/M price change | Y/Y price change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $1,370 | $1,750 | 0.2% | 1.1% |
| Long Beach | $1,380 | $1,780 | 0.3% | 1.8% |
| Anaheim | $1,650 | $2,120 | 0.9% | 3.6% |
| Santa Ana | $1,450 | $1,870 | 0.5% | 1.9% |
| Irvine | $2,110 | $2,710 | 0.4% | 1.7% |
| Glendale | $1,390 | $1,790 | -0.4% | 1.9% |
| Huntington Beach | $1,860 | $2,400 | 0.9% | 1.5% |
| Santa Clarita | $2,020 | $2,600 | 1.0% | 4.6% |
| Lancaster | $1,360 | $1,750 | -0.9% | 3.1% |
| Palmdale | $1,580 | $2,030 | 0.4% | 3.4% |
| Pomona | $1,160 | $1,490 | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| Torrance | $1,590 | $2,050 | -0.1% | 1.8% |
| Pasadena | $1,620 | $2,080 | -0.0% | 1.6% |
| Fullerton | $1,550 | $1,990 | 0.2% | 2.0% |
| Downey | $1,400 | $1,800 | -0.1% | 1.8% |
| Costa Mesa | $1,820 | $2,340 | -0.1% | 1.6% |
| Inglewood | $1,180 | $1,520 | -0.4% | 2.2% |
| West Covina | $1,760 | $2,270 | 0.1% | 3.2% |
| Norwalk | $1,520 | $1,960 | 0.2% | 1.7% |
| Burbank | $1,610 | $2,070 | -0.4% | 3.0% |
| Mission Viejo | $2,100 | $2,690 | 0.9% | 2.2% |
| Santa Monica | $1,650 | $2,120 | -0.5% | -1.4% |
| Westminster | $1,600 | $2,060 | -0.6% | 0.5% |
| Whittier | $1,400 | $1,800 | -0.8% | -0.2% |
| Newport Beach | $2,790 | $3,590 | -1.1% | 1.3% |
| Hawthorne | $1,190 | $1,530 | -0.3% | 2.1% |
| Buena Park | $1,610 | $2,070 | -1.0% | 1.8% |
| Lake Forest | $1,860 | $2,390 | -0.7% | 1.6% |
| Bellflower | $1,380 | $1,770 | -0.6% | 1.3% |
| Tustin | $1,910 | $2,450 | -0.1% | -0.6% |
| Redondo Beach | $1,980 | $2,540 | -0.2% | 0.3% |
| San Clemente | $2,300 | $2,960 | -0.7% | 2.0% |
| Laguna Niguel | $1,820 | $2,340 | -0.7% | -0.3% |
| La Habra | $1,550 | $1,990 | 0.2% | 2.4% |
| Fountain Valley | $1,880 | $2,410 | 0.2% | 3.0% |
| Paramount | $1,440 | $1,860 | 0.4% | 3.0% |
| Placentia | $1,780 | $2,290 | -0.1% | 2.4% |
| Glendora | $1,700 | $2,180 | -0.2% | 1.7% |
| Aliso Viejo | $1,640 | $2,110 | -0.6% | -18.2% |
| Cypress | $1,750 | $2,250 | -0.4% | 0.0% |
| Covina | $1,600 | $2,050 | 0.0% | 1.7% |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | $3,440 | $4,430 | -0.7% | 2.7% |
| Brea | $1,760 | $2,260 | 0.5% | 3.1% |
| Culver City | $1,770 | $2,280 | 0.0% | 3.7% |
| Beverly Hills | $3,130 | $4,020 | -0.8% | -0.6% |
| San Dimas | $1,850 | $2,380 | -0.2% | 5.2% |
| Dana Point | $2,030 | $2,610 | -0.5% | -0.5% |
| Laguna Beach | $2,020 | $2,590 | -0.8% | -2.0% |
| Hermosa Beach | $2,170 | $2,790 | -0.2% | -2.1% |
| Marina del Rey | $3,620 | $4,660 | 0.6% | 3.8% |
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.
