Housing crisis a lift for rentals
Los Angeles Times
By Alejandro Lazo
In a sign that the nation's foreclosure crisis is taking a toll, renters surged into the U.S. apartment market in the third quarter, pushing up rents and driving down vacancies...
...In Los Angeles County, the vacancy rate fell 0.3%, to 5.2% and rents remained relatively flat, up 0.1%, to $1,343 a unit. While that's encouraging news from landlords, L.A. looks to be a renters market for some time to come, said Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
"[Rents] have flattened, but they have come down a long way, and until they start rising pretty rapidly we are not going to get back to peak any time soon," Green said. "The good news is that because rents came down so much, and they haven't really gone up very much, at least rental housing is more affordable [considering that] we have among the least affordable rental markets I the country."...