”Survey says” seems to be at numerous rankings and scorecards judging geographic areas whereas noting these grades are finest seen as a mixture of suave interpretation and information.

Buzz: Financial actuality has hit California landlords, and their tenants are the winners with 4 consecutive months of falling rents.

Supply: My trusty spreadsheet checked out December’s estimates of lease charges for brand spanking new tenants in 56 giant California cities, compiled by ApartmentList.

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California big-city rents ran $2,110 a month, in response to my populated-weighted common of the cities. That’s down 1.1% in a month as 88% of the large cities tracked had falling rents for the month. Rents are off $86 or 4% since August.

And December’s lease was up solely 2.4% in a 12 months. That’s the smallest year-over-year improve in 19 months.

However let’s word this latest dip doesn’t wipe away pandemic-era ache for renters. California rents are nonetheless up 13% in three years, or $240 a month.

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Let’s have a look at some extremes among the many 56 California cities tracked for December …

The place had been the most important lease declines?

1-month drop: Oceanside, off 3.9% to $2,622.

12-month drop: Ventura, off 4.4% to $2,063.

3-year drop: Oakland, off 15% to $1,628.

And which cities had the most important lease beneficial properties?

1-month achieve: Ventura, up 1.3% to $2,058.

12-month achieve: Escondido, up 11.8% to $2,231.

3-year achieve: Escondido, up 40% to $2,231.

And the month-to-month lease extremes?

Priciest metropolis? Irvine at $3,068.

Least expensive? Fresno at $1,299.

Take into account that rents fell in December in 9 of California’s 10 most-populated cities. Listed below are the cities, ranked by one-month lease change …

Santa Ana: $2,111 month-to-month median new lease price, down 1.9% in a month, up 0.5% in a 12 months, and up 22% in three years.

San Francisco: $2,196 month-to-month, down 1.7% in a month, up 2% in a 12 months, and down 13% in three years.

San Diego: $2,345 month-to-month, down 1.4% in a month, up 4.6% in a 12 months, and up 27% in three years.

San Jose: $2,386 month-to-month, down 1.3% in a month, up 6.6% in a 12 months, and up 3% in three years.

Los Angeles: $1,873 month-to-month, down 1% in a month, up 1.7% in a 12 months, and up 6% in three years.

Lengthy Seaside: $1,678 month-to-month, down 0.9% in a month, up 4% in a 12 months, and up 17% in three years.

Sacramento: $1,624 month-to-month, down 0.8% in a month, down 1.8% in a 12 months, and up 20% in three years.

Oakland: $1,628 month-to-month, down 0.7% in a month, down 2.8% in a 12 months, down 15% in three years.

Fresno: $1,299 month-to-month, down 0.2% in a month, up 1.6% in a 12 months, and up 23% in three years.

Anaheim: $2,227 month-to-month, up 0.2% in a month, up 3.8% in a 12 months, and up 26% in three years.

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Ponder 2022’s financial timeline: Diminished coronavirus fears. Staff going again to the workplace. College students return to school rooms. On high of that, toss in some financial anxieties.

That nudged many renters, or potential renters, to assume they now not wanted separate or bigger dwelling areas. This took the steam out of demand for housing, translating to further empty leases for a lot of landlords.

So now we’re seeing a sale on rents – discounting that might run all through a lot of 2023.

Jonathan Lansner is the enterprise columnist for the Southern California Information Group. He will be reached at jlansner@scng.com