Los Angeles Times: Southern California rents are likely to remain flat, study says

Southern California rents are likely to remain flat, study says Los Angeles Times By Alejandro Lazo Southern California's apartment dwellers probably won't face big rent increases any time soon, but the steep declines seen in recent years are beginning to ebb as the economy improves, a new study says. Rents are predicted to remain largely flat for Southern California's market through 2012, according to a forecast by USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate. Rents changed little across Southern California in 2010 -- ranging from a 1% increase in the Inland Empire to a 0.2% decline in San Diego County. From landlords' perspective, the region continues to lag behind the rest of the nation, where overall rents increased 2.3% last year. But that might change if California's economy continues to pick up. Nearly 100,000 net new jobs were added in the Golden State in February, and that kind of pace could help strengthen the rental market. "The economic improvement in the last couple months could definitely lead to a faster recovery than we are anticipating right now," said Tracey Seslen, a professor at the USC Lusk Center who co-wrote the study. "The jobs number for the last two months showed really nice growth." Factors potentially keeping the lid on rents include decreased demand for rentals as people look to buy homes, lured by skyrocketing affordability...