Surprise! Renters paying less in Bay Area

Renters in the Bay Area are finally getting a price break. RENTCafé reports the average rent in the Bay Area decreased by 0.5% ($15) from last month to $2,806.

Compared to this time last year, only two cities out of the 44 analyzed saw prices drop by 1% or more. However, from August to September, apartment prices cooled down in most markets, as rents declined between 0.1% and 2% in 34 cities.

Here are some highlights:

• San Francisco ($3,703) rents dropped a modest 0.1% since August, but they still exhibit an annual growth of 2.6%. In San Jose ($2,762), apartment prices are 1.1% lower than last month and, compared to last year, they inched up only 1%.
• Of the 44 large Bay Area cities analyzed, Emeryville ($3,072) saw the most significant month-over-month rent drop (2%), while Alameda ($2,521) witnessed the most significant year-over-year decrease (1.9%).
• At the other end of the spectrum, Oakland ($2,953) leads regional growth with a 9.5% increase in rents compared to last year, followed by Foster City ($3,527) and Redwood City ($3,585) with growth rates of 7% and 6.9% respectively.

You can read RENTCafé's National Rent Report or check out the rents in the Bay Area broken down by region here: https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/local-rent-reports/bay-area-rent-report-september-2019.