LA Apartment Operators Turn to Rent Cuts

Los Angeles is now seeing some of the steepest rent cuts in the country, as the market falters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operators in Los Angeles cut rents by 3.3% in the year-ending May. That’s quite a change from the annual rent growth of 3.1% this market had been averaging in 2019, and well below the performance highs of 5% to 6% from 2015 and 2016.

After registering rent growth above the national norm for much of the past five years, Los Angeles is now recording some of the steepest price declines in the county. In fact, among the 27 major apartment markets that cut rents in the past year, the four areas with the steepest cuts in May were all key California locations. Like Los Angeles, Oakland registered an annual loss in effective asking rents of about 3% in May. Cuts were even deeper at 4.4% in San Jose and at 4.9% in San Francisco.

California markets also tend to lag for rent payment collections in June.

For more information on the Los Angeles apartment market, watch the RealPage webcast, Up Close and Local: Los Angeles.