USC center sees biggest average increases in Anaheim, Santa Ana over next 20 months. By Danielle Herubin Average rents in Orange County are expected to increase about 8 percent over the next 20 months, according to a forecast by University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate. The biggest pressure on rents is expected to be in the established, central part of the county. Renters - many of them Hispanics are expected to push prices higher in Anaheim, where rent is relatively low and there's convenient access to jobs. Santa Ana also is expected to see substantial rent increases, according to USC's Casden Forecast. Rents in Anaheim average about $980 a month. Santa Ana rents are, on average, $1,100 a month. "In general, people are going to look at Anaheim first and look at other places after that," said Raphael Bostic, director of the forecast that surveyed 46 percent of the Orange County apartments. If the forecast, which is in its first year, holds true, personal incomes might come close to keeping pace with the rent increases. Incomes are expected to go up by 3.8 percent in 2003 and 5.2 percent in 2004, according to the latest estimate by California State University, Fullerton. In most cases, though, rents will rise faster than personal income, Bostic said. That's nothing new for many Orange County renters, who have experienced an average of about $400 in rent increases since 1996, according to RealFacts, a market-research firm in Novato. The average Orange County rent in 2002 was $1,219 and increased about 2 percent from the previous year. "They've seen the prices go so high and greed takes over," said Fred Meyers, 47, a Whirlpool Corp. technician who rents an apartment with his wife in Huntington Beach. Meyers was hit with a rent raise of $470 last month, and now he's house hunting in Riverside County. Landlords, however, face high turnover because of the sluggish economy, and it's taking longer to attract new tenants. Jerry L'Ecuyer, owner of JLE Property Management in Anaheim, said he's been seeing 10 percent hikes of past years past drop to 5 percent. "I think the economy slowed down a little bit," he said.
