Housing Shortages and Rental Prices in California

I just attended the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Annual Leadership Luncheon. We had many of the local mayors, supervisors and Both State Senator Laird and Congressman Panetta. Across the board, the 2 biggest topics for the panelists were WATER and HOUSING.

The Peninsula is challenged with a lack of “affordable” housing for many of our hotel workers, our teachers and our agricultural workers. We are also challenged with drought and water shortages. In order to solve our housing issue, we need to build more housing but to do that, we need water! The panelists all face the same issue and agree that they must work together to find solutions. A desalination plant seems to be the answer but there are many obstacles that need to be resolved and in the meantime, rental inventory is low, demand is high and rental prices continue to rise.

According to Realtor®.com’s August Rental Report, Americans spent more than one-quarter (26.4%) of their monthly budgets on rents in August, on average. Here are the August average rental rates for studios/1 bedroom/2 bedroom in California metro areas:

Monterey County:

• Studio apartment - $2,112

• One-bedroom - $2,194

• Two-bedroom - $2,675

• Three-bedroom - $3,790

• Four-bedroom - $4,144

San Diego-Carlsbad:

· Overall Median Rent - $2,888

· Studio Median Rent -$2,339

· 1 BR Median Rent - $2,719

· 2 BR Median Rent - $3,221

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward:

· Overall Median Rent - $3,134

· Studio Median Rent - $2,629

· 1 BR Median Rent - $2,860

· 2 BR Median Rent - $3,665

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara:

· Overall Median Rent - $3,353

· Studio Median Rent - $2,675

· 1 BR Median Rent - $3,111

· 2 BR Median Rent - $3,780

Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade:

· Overall Median Rent - $1,955

· Studio Median Rent - $1,550

· 1 BR Median Rent - $1,788

· 2 BR Median Rent- $2,065

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim:

· Overall Median Rend-$2,945

· Studio Median Rent-$2,345

· 1 BR Median Rent-$2,716

· 2 BR Median Rent-$3,434

Source: https://news.move.com/2022-09-22-Realtor-com-R-August-Rental-Report-Americans-Spend-26-of-their-Incomes-on-Rents