San Diego’s rental units now sit vacant for an average of 27 days, signaling market stabilization.
SAN DIEGO — Rental units in San Diego sit vacant for an average of 27 days, a slight increase from last year, indicating that the rental market is stabilizing, according to a new report from Apartment List. When the market stabilizes, rent prices typically remain steady and renters have more time to secure a lease.
While San Diego’s average days a home is vacant is fast compared to other places, San Diego’s overall rental growth is strong, said Apartment List economist and data researcher Rob Warnock.
“It’s a little bit faster than most big cities across the country, but not too far off from kind of the nationwide median,” said Warnock. “Certainly, apartments are not moving as quickly as they are in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is currently the nation’s hottest rental market, but they are moving faster than they are in some of the slower rental markets that we’re seeing across, like the southeastern United States.
In regard to San Francisco, the average time a rental unit is on the market is just 20 days, seven fewer days than in San Diego.
With 27 days for an average unit to sit, San Diego is tied with Los Angeles, New York City, Jacksonville, Jersey City, Washington, Columbus, Miami and Orlando.
Typically, the lower the number of days a rental property sits vacant is the more leverage a landlord has to increase rent. In places such as San Diego, the number of days a rental has sat vacant is also directly tied to the housing supply and how many new units are getting built.
“Anybody who lives in San Diego sees the number of new buildings that are going up; those are all vacant units that are taking some heat off the market, and it means that units have to sit longer to fill vacancies. So that was really strong,” said Warnock.
However, Warnock warns that waiting too long could put you at risk when searching for a home. The fewer the number of days a unit is on the market, the fewer options tenants will have.
“In extreme examples, where I am in San Francisco, you show up to see an apartment and there’s 50 other people there, and people have like, you know, checkbooks out ready to sign a deposit. I don’t know if that’s the reality that people face in San Diego, but like, it’s more moving in that direction as time on market comes down. So for renters, right, being prepared for that is important, knowing that it’s going to be more competitive. You might have a little bit less leverage in your negotiations.”