As the new year begins, we’ve heard multiple reports about rents, which are said to be declining gradually throughout the Bay Area — a bit of relief, after years of painful increases that have left many tenants reeling.
A new analysis from Zumper shows a more complicated picture. According to its National Rent Report for February, the slide continues in San Francisco, which Zumper identifies as the nation’s costliest rental market. There, a one-bedroom apartment goes for $3,310, down 1.2 percent month-over-month and down 5.4 percent year-over-year. Similar declines in price apply to a two-bedroom unit, which typically goes for $4,500 — down 0.2 percent month-over-month and down 4.9 percent from a year earlier.
However, the price trend differs markedly in San Jose, the fourth most costly market in the U.S. There, a one-bedroom goes for $2,240 — that’s up 3.2 percent month-over-month and up 1.4 percent year-over year. A two-bedroom flat, which goes for $2,680, again is up 3.1 percent month-over-month, though down 5.6 percent year-over-year.
Finally, Oakland, the fifth costliest market in the nation, shows a mixed pattern, too. A one-bedroom flat goes for $2,210. That’s up 1.0 percent month-over-month, but down 4.1 percent year-over-year. A two-bedroom unit, typically priced at $2,600, is up 1.6 percent month-over-month and down 2.3 percent year-over-year.
“Prices of the top rental markets,” Zumper says, “for the most part, have plateaued or declined.” Its report covers 100 cities.
Perhaps the Bay Area market, after years of increases, is sorting itself out — plateauing or sliding, but with some upward blips here and there. Or perhaps we just have to wait and see.
A report from Axiometrics recently said that rents have fallen for four consecutive months in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. But a new analysis from ApartmentList.com shows San Jose rents up slightly.
All of these websites have their own methodologies for measuring the market and use different sample sizes. And it’s unusual to find one that includes homes and apartments rented by so-called “mom and pop” landlords, who tend to charge less than larger complexes. Anecdotally, relative bargains are to be had these days for those who look hard enough.
We will continue to keep an eye on the rental market.
Meanwhile, here’s Zumper’s report.
Top: An apartment complex goes up in downtown San Jose in 2015. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)