LA rental prices dipped again in November

For the second month in a row, Los Angeles rental prices fell in November, according to a new report from Apartment List.

But renters can be forgiven if they haven’t noticed, as median prices dipped just .3 percent last month—and since November of 2016, they’re up 3.8 percent. Prior to October, prices in LA had increased or stayed put for eight straight months.

The median cost of a one-bedroom apartment is now $1,350 per month, while the price of a two-bedroom is $1,730, according to the report.

Rents aren’t shooting up in LA quite as quickly as in other parts of California. Statewide, median rental prices rose 4.3 percent in the last year, though price growth was slower in other cities with high housing costs. In San Francisco, rents increased 1.3 percent in the last year; in San Jose and San Diego, the price bump over the same time was 3 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Apartment List bases its price calculations on Census data, so their median prices give a good sense of what LA residents are paying right now. But what about newcomers and people searching for a new place?

A separate report from Zumper, which simply draws from listings posted on its site (skewing toward newer and higher-end units) helps to show what kind of sticker prices those starting an apartment search might expect to find.

According to the report, the median price for a one-bedroom apartment in LA is a hefty $2,200. For a two-bedroom, it’s $3,180. Those prices are steep enough to make LA the sixth-most expensive city in the U.S., by Zumper’s reckoning.

• Report: 58% of LA tenants are spending too much on rent [Curbed LA]
• How much more will it cost to rent in LA in two years? [Curbed LA]
• LA rents went down—yes, down—in October [Curbed LA]