Hang Nguyen
The county's rents are expected to rise 3.6 percent this year and 3.5 percent more next year.
The average for local rents will jump $48, to $1,383, by the end of this year and another $48, to $1,431, by the end of 2006, according to a report being released today by the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estatecolor>.
Landlords will continue to do well because empty apartments will be hard to find. Rent increases, however, won't be as steep as 2004 because of weaker-than-expected job growth and some pockets of vacant apartments.
The study's author, Delores Conwaycolor>, expects the county's slice of empty apartments to fall from 4.7 percent last year to 4.4 percent by the end of this year and to 4.2 percent by the of end of 2006.