USC: Rents in San Diego, SoCal will likely stay flat San Diego Union-Tribune By Lily Leung Flat is good in Southern California's rental market after going through two years of drops, say analysts at the University of Southern California's real estate center in its annual apartments report. Experts at USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate on Wednesday reported rents in San Diego County and other key counties in the region were largely flat in 2010 and are expected to remain so in the next two years. "While we are no longer hemorrhaging jobs, home affordability remains bleak in some areas, both of which bode well for the multifamily market," said Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center and co-author of the annual forecast, in a statement. "However, it is unlikely that rents will rise until the greater economic health of the region improves and some of the excess inventory in the housing market disappears." In the report, San Diego County was the only major metro area to see a drop in rents last year but it was slight: They fell 0.2 percent to $1,320. Occupancy rose 0.4 percentage points to 95.4 percent. Stability on both fronts is likely due to job creation. The report says that 5,200 jobs were added last year and another 10,000 to 20,000 are expected this year...
