Local rents increasing slightly, flattening out as peak moving season approaches

The Santa Rosa area made the list of top 10 metros where Generation Z renters and homebuyers will pay the most for housing by the time they turn 30 years old.

Data from Rent Cafe shows that Santa Rosa sits in eighth place in the country when it comes to rental prices, saying Gen Z, for example, will pay $217,084 in rent by the time they reach 30 years of age. Santa Rosa also made the top 10 when it comes to costs related to buying a home.

So how does this picture fit for other renters in the North Bay?

Kate Raphael Smith, vice president of apartment brokerage Norcal Commercial Inc., said people are continuing to rent due to high home purchasing costs and limited housing inventory.

And, with the peak moving season just around the corner, rent prices are steadily increasing, just not as quickly as in previous years.

Median rents in Sonoma County peaked last July at $2,234 a month, according to data from Bay Area rent research firm Apartment List. Napa’s median rent prices reached $2,488 a month.

Apartment List tracks monthly estimates of median rent across the country based on new leases per a given housing market. The firm tracks rents going back to January 2017.

New data from Apartment List shows that nationwide, rents grew at .5% in April, just shy of .6% in March.

In Santa Rosa, rents dipped .2% in April compared to a .5% increase experienced nationwide. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Rosa is $1,457 and $1,962 for a two-bedroom.

The city of Napa also saw prices dip in April by .4% with year-over-year rent changes falling to nearly 4%, Apartment List data showed.

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Napa sits at just over $1,803 a month and $2,414 for a two-bedroom.

Outside of the Bay Area, median rent for a property with up to two bedrooms has gone from $1,424 at the end of 2020 to $1,713 at the end of last year, according to realtor.com.

And although parts of the country have started to see demand offset by large housing construction projects, California hasn’t seen the same increase in construction projects.

“We’re starting to see that expected annual shift in demand and accordingly, an annual shift in rent prices moving up a little bit as well,” said Rob Warnock, a senior research associate with rent research firm Apartment List.

Warnock said typical rent growth is between two and 4% year over year. Increases seen so far this year are not as “outrageous” compared to pre-pandemic year-over-year price changes.

“Price increases were more steady so they are going up but not at a velocity that I think is concerning or back when the market was really unhealthy in 2021 when prices were skyrocketing,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Sara Edwards at 707-521-5487 or sara.edwards@pressdemocrat. com. On Twitter @sedwards380.