Housing explosion partly to blame
Rental rates increased in recent years in Santa Clarita, but not at the same rate as in the rest of Los Angeles County -- in part because of the hot housing market, according to studies.
Rents increased 2.2 percent from the third quarter of 2003 to the same period last year, while the rest of the region saw average rent increases ranging from 3 percent to almost 6 percent the past year this year, according to the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecastcolor> released this week by the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate.
The Casden Forecast indicated renters are being drawn to Santa Clarita attracted to upscale lower-cost units within commuting distance of Burbank and the San Fernando Valley.
The average monthly apartment rent in Santa Clarita was $1,372 in 2004, a 2.2 percent increase over the previous year. The average one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment rented for $1,151 last year; rent for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment was $1,450 a month, according to an survey by RealFacts of Marin County, which surveyed six large apartment complexes -- a total of 1,559 units -- in Santa Clarita.