April 23, 2002
SAN FRANCISCO – Depressed by the prolonged high-technology slump, San Francisco Bay Area apartment rents sagged to two-year lows during the first quarter while rents in other major Western markets rose slightly, according to a study to be released today.
At the end of March, the average apartment rent in Santa Clara County – the heart of the Silicon Valley – stood at $1,451, a 26 percent decrease from an average of $1,951 at the same time last year, according to RealFacts, a Novato-based real estate research firm.
RealFacts surveyed 6,000 apartment complexes in 19 major markets west of the Mississippi River. Most major Western metropolitan areas saw slim average rent increases of between 1 percent and 3 percent.
In San Diego, the average apartment rate climbed 5 percent to $1,092, while in Orange County the rate rose 3 percent to $1,209. The average Los Angeles apartment rate stood at $1,233, a 4 percent increase from $1,185 a year ago, RealFacts said.
The Silicon Valley rent represented the lowest average since landlords charged $1,444 per month in March 2000, RealFacts said.
Squeezed by similar economic pressures, San Francisco apartment rents fell for the fifth consecutive quarter to an average of $1,691 in March, 16 percent below the prior year's levels. San Francisco rents are now back to where they were in September 1999 when the average stood at $1,692 per month, RealFacts said.
Propelled by the Internet business craze that brought thousands of well-paid workers to the city, San Francisco apartment rents peaked at $2,036 per month in December 2000, according to RealFacts.
The erosion in the San Francisco Bay Area contrasted with slightly higher rents in most other markets surveyed by RealFacts throughout California and the West.
The biggest increases occurred in two of California's fastest growing regions, the Sacramento area in the northern part of the state and Riverside and San Bernardino counties at the southern end of the state.
Apartment rents in the Sacramento metropolitan area averaged $847 in March, a 7 percent increase from $810 in the prior year. That was the biggest annual rent increase in the markets surveyed by RealFacts.
Average rents climbed 6 percent to $840 per month in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, a region known as the "Inland Empire." |
