Southern California apartment rents expected to drop this year
Daily Breeze
By Muhammed El-Hasan
...Apartment rents in Los Angeles County and across Southern California are expected to drop this year amid stubbornly high unemployment, according to a study released Wednesday. Average apartment rents in the county will drop 3.5 percent this year, the worst of four regions included in the report, according to the Casden Forecast, released annually by the USC Lusk Center.
From now through 2011, apartment rents will drop a total of 5.22 percent in the county, forecast co-author Tracey Seslen said in an interview. She noted that all four markets in the report – Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties - are performing better than last year...
...Richard K. Green, another forecast co-author, added in a statement: "Housing is more affordable across the region, but low consumer confidence is keeping many first-time buyers on the fence and move-up buyers that lost equity are staying put." Green said that dynamic, which limits the supply of homebuyers, could ultimately lead to higher rents...