Rents continue to rise across much of the Bay Area, including in the region’s three major cities.
According to a new report from Rent Cafe, which tracks rent trends, average rents in Oakland ticked up 5.7 percent to $2,935 from January 2019 to this January. In San Francisco, rents rose 2.3 percent to $3,700 during the same time, and in San Jose they went up a relatively modest .4 percent to $2,719.
Across the Bay Area, rents rose fastest in Napa — up 6.8 percent since January 2019 to $2,219, followed by Oakland and then Daly City, up 4.9 percent to $2,618.
Seema Rupani, an attorney with the East Bay Community Law Center, said rents in places like Oakland and Berkeley have risen as more people have left San Francisco for the East Bay, pushing out longtime residents, particularly African Americans.
“The rent is just impossible,” Rupani said, adding that displacement has also meant “loss of community.”
But apartment living hasn’t gotten pricier everywhere in the region. Rents in Richmond are down 8.1 percent to $2,160 compared to last year and rents in Petaluma declined 4.1 percent to $2,282.
Menlo Park remains the most expensive place to rent, with apartments costing $4,316 in January. Palo Alto ranks second at $3,805. San Francisco, Redwood City and Cupertino, home to Apple, round out the top five. Antioch and Vallejo are the most affordable, at $1,787 and $1,797, respectively. Fairfield, Vacaville and Santa Rosa are the next most affordable places to live in the Bay Area.
The figures, compiled by Rent Cafe’s sister company Yardi Matrix, are drawn from market-rate, multifamily properties with at least 50 units, meaning smaller complexes and affordable housing developments are not included.
Nationally, rents climbed 3 percent year-over-year, or about $43 more per month, to $1,463 — the slowest pace in 18 months, according to Rent Cafe.
Yet, the company says it expects rents to “maintain an upward streak throughout 2020,” driven by an increase in the number of renters, particularly high earners, throughout the U.S. According to the report, 157 percent more Americans making more than $150,000 a year started renting in the last decade, eschewing more traditional home ownership.
According to Rent Cafe, Americans’ views on housing are shifting, with people of all ages increasingly drawn to the mobility and lifestyle — from amenities like pools and gyms to prime locations near urban centers — apartment life can provide.
The change could, the report predicts, drive developers to build more apartments. But, it acknowledges, high land and labor costs mean few developers are choosing to build affordable housing.
And while 16 of the 20 largest apartment hubs in the country have rents below $2,000, the lack of affordable housing is particularly acute in the Bay Area, which remains one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation. State leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently devoted his state of the state speech to homelessness, say California needs to add around 3.5 million homes to address its housing crisis.
Some Californians are already fleeing the state because of the high cost of living. According to the report, the exodus is driving up rents in popular destinations like Phoenix and Las Vegas, which both saw rents rise by more than 5 percent from last January to this January.
Until recently, Peggy Magilen lived in a North Berkeley rent-controlled complex where the landlords have been handing out eviction notices. Now, a team of residents, lawyers and activists is trying to convince the owners to sell to a land trust that would help the tenants stay in the building. If they succeed, Magilen said, the group can use “nuance and understanding” to set rents that people can afford, rather than simply trying to maximize profit.
Instead of fleeing the state, Magilen wants to see more land trusts and nonprofits acquire housing and help keep rents affordable.
“The world,” she said, “is ready for cooperative solutions.”