As we’ve been reporting for some time now, residential rental demand has surged in 2021 throughout much of the country, driven by housing inventory crunches and competitive offers for perspective homebuyers.
According to data from RealPage Inc., reported by the Business Journals, the Riverside/San Bernardino region has seen the average monthly residential rent jump from $1,591 in Q1 of 2020 to $1,950 in Q3 of 2021. That rate puts the group SoCal markets at no. 4 on the list of fastest growing rental markets.
Coming in at the no. 1 spot, Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, which has seen a 26.2 percent increase in average rent compared to the beginning of 2020. The current average monthly rent in that region now comes in at $1,527. Tampa and Jacksonville came in at no. 2 and 3, respectively, with 23.7 percent and 23 percent annual increases.
There are a few bright spots where rents have actually decreased, including here in California. According to the report, San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara have seen rents decrease 6.6 percent since Q1 2020, while San Francisco saw the largest rent decline among the 50 regions examined, at 12.4 percent.
Even with the decline, the NorCal markets remain among the most expensive for renters in the U.S. San Francisco’s average rent in Q3 of 2021 was $3,047, while San Jose rents averaged $2,758 over the same time period.