In addition to the general dearth of housing properties that has been created in the So Cal real estate market over the last five years, there is also the specter of decreasing demand. As the unemployment/underemployment rate in Los Angeles hovers near 20% people are leaving California faster than they are arriving and we may start to see a stabilization in the population for the first time since Europeans started arriving here four-hundred fifty years ago (I looked it up).
LAist is reporting that this phenomenon has resulted in something many of us have been able to see first hand: in LA renters have gained the upper hand.
Since 2003 I’ve had to relocate twice due to “Demolition Eviction” notices (first in December of 2004 and again in March 2006). You get a Demolition Eviction” notice when your landlord decides to cash in on the boom in the real-estate market and turn your building into a condo complex. I’d been so traumatized by it I sought refuge in Santa Monica where the process almost never takes place.
These relocations gave me an opportunity to get a great feel for the West L.A. housing rental market. When I looked at it again in January I got to see how depressed the market had become in the last two years. Most monthly rental rates had decreased 10% in that period.
So, it’s nice to see some relief in this area. I’ve always been astounded at what we pay to rent property in this area. New York is really the only other major metropolitan area I can think of that outprices us.
Makes me weep with pride.
QuantumTom 