This coastal city boasts San Diego County’s highest rent. Photo credit: visitcarlsbad.com
Rents in San Diego increased again in April, with median costs for a two-bedroom apartment rising to $2,520 – more than $1,000 over national levels – according to an industry analysis.
But that’s not the highest rate in the county – median Carlsbad rents in April reached $3,050, up 23.8% for the year, ApartmentList.com noted in its May Rent Report.
That outpaces even pricey San Francisco, the most expensive of all California’s major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $2,760, and is comparable to Fremont, Palo Alto and Redwood City in the Bay Area and greater San Jose.
Where other communities in the county rank on median rents for two-bedroom units, and how much they rose over the past year:
- Chula Vista – $2,380, up 21.9%
- La Mesa – $2,480, up 22%
- Oceanside – $2,660, up 17.5%
- San Marcos – $2,370, up 21%
- Vista – $2,550, up 25.1%
To compare, nationally rents for two-bedroom apartments stand at $1,319.
Year-over-year rent growth in San Diego has reached 18.8%, after reaching 3.4% at this time last year. In addition, rents in San Diego are up by 21.9% since the start of the pandemic two years ago.
Locally, the metropolitan Riverside area saw an even larger rent rise during the pandemic – by 37%. The southwest was hot overall, with Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas all seeing increases of 35% or more.
This is the fourth month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in December. San Diego’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 15.9%, as well as the national average of 16.3%.