Source: CoreLogic
The “Looking Glass” ponders economic and real estate trends through two distinct lenses: the optimist’s “glass half-full” and the pessimist’s “glass half-empty.”
Buzz: Renting a house in Southern California is preposterously expensive on a national scale.
Source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at CoreLogic’s single-family rental index tracking the cost of living in a three-bedroom house nationally and in 20 US markets, including Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
Debate: Is renting a better cost option for frustrated house hunters?
Glass half-empty
Renting a three-bedroom house in Los Angeles County cost $3,607 a month in February. That was 76% pricier than the national benchmark of $2,052 and was the fourth-highest rent among the 20 cities tracked.
No. 2 was San Diego County at $3,896 – 90% above the nation.
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It could be worse: San Francisco’s typical house renters pay $4,757 a month, or 132% above the nation. And No. 3 is Honolulu at $3,748 rent, 83% higher than the US.
Glass half-full
There’s a slice of good news in the report – local rent hikes are moderating and look somewhat modest on this US scorecard.
The Los Angeles 1.2% rent hike in the 12 months ended in March ranked No. 15 of the 20 – and was well below 3.3% increases of the previous year.
San Diego’s 3.1% rent hike ranked No. 10 – vs. 5.4% in the previous year.
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Nationally, house rents rose 3.4%. Seattle’s 6.3% rent hike was No. 1 while Austin’s 3.5% decline ranked No. 20.
Jonathan Lansner is business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
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