...Delores Conway, Casden Forecast director, said while this county saw an increase of about 3.6 percent in its average rent between the end of 2006 and the end of 2007, some submarkets saw larger percentage increases. For example, Mission Valley saw its rent increase by more than 5 percent to $1,483 and Escondido saw its relatively low rent climb by about 6 percent to $1,033 per month during the same 12-month period.
The Casden report concludes rents will rise an average of 2.5 to 3 percent across Southern California. Conway said San Diego should see hikes in the upper end of that range during the course of 2008. "San Diego is the tightest market in Southern California and has been one of the tightest in the nation, so you can expect to see more increases," she said...