Year-End Report 2022: 19 Renters Competed for an Apartment in Los Angeles, While Many Rushed South

The rental listing website and research blog RentCafe just released the 2022 Year-End Report, which looks at the most competitive rental markets this year. 

Although apartment construction is at a historic high, finding a rental in 2022 hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park. Nationally, the average renter had to compete with 13 other apartment seekers to secure a rental, which didn’t have a stay listed longer than one month. 

On the West Coast, California’s low-supply Orange County was the most competitive renting spot, followed by San Diego — a sign that both markets continue to attract from Los Angeles and San Francisco.  

In the Los Angeles rental market, competition intensified in Eastern LA in stark contrast with Western LA. Here, the number of prospective renters applying for an apartment was much lower, despite the fact that both Eastern and Western LA saw the same increase in their apartment inventories in 2022.  

Here are more details for each area in Los Angeles, according to the report:  

• Eastern LA: Almost 97% of apartments for rent in Eastern LA were occupied in 2022, and those units that became vacant at some point were filled after 34 days, on average. The increase in supply (1.8%) failed to accommodate all apartment seekers, mostly young professionals coming from pricier metros across the Golden State. To make things even more complicated, 46% of renters decided to renew their leases in the area instead of looking for a new apartment — that’s much lower than the national average of 63%. This led to 25 renters competing for one apartment, on average.  
• Western LA: Despite the decreasing demand, 95% of all rentals in the city were occupied this year, leaving 16 prospective renters competing for each vacant apartment. On average, Western LA apartments were filled in 36 days — that’s four days more than the national average. And with a lease renewal rate of 38%, renters here are also less likely to stay put. 
• North LA: About 97% of apartments in the area were occupied this year, especially as almost half of renters chose to renew their leases. This led to an average of 17 prospective renters competing for each new vacancy in this low-supply market where a mere 0.3% of total supply of apartments were built in 2022. As a consequence, vacant rentals in North LA were filled in 38 days, on average.  

Here’s the complete Year-End Report, rich with charts and additional data: https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/most-competitive-rental-markets-this-year/

By Eastern LA rental market, RentCafe is referring to the following municipalities: Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, West Covina, Pomona, Rowland Heights, El Monte and Downey. 

By Western LA rental market, RentCafe is referring to the following municipalities: Los Angeles, Marina Del Rey, Torrance, Santa Monica, Hawthorne, Hollywood, Culver City and Inglewood. 

By North LA rental market, RentCafe is referring to the following municipalities: Woodland Hills, Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Oxnard, Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Northridge, Canoga Park and Burbank. 

About the data and methodology:  

To compile this report, RentCafe.com’s research team analyzed Yardi Systems apartment data across 135 rental markets in the U.S. The data comes directly from market-rate large-scale multifamily properties of at least 50 units.  

To calculate each market’s RCI score, we used five metrics: apartment occupancy rate, average total days apartments were vacant, prospective renters per vacant unit, the renewal lease rate, and the share of new apartments completed in the first eight months of 2022.  

Source: Rent Cafe