Rent costs down across nation for first time this year. What about California cities?

Here’s some good news for renters, including those living in some of California’s biggest cities.

For the first time this year, average rent prices across the nation decreased month-over-month in August, with the monthly cost of renting a one or two-bedroom apartment dropping by about $50, according to a new report from Rent.com.

During the month of August, the national average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment went down by 2.77%, to $1,721 a month, the report found.

Rental prices year over year are still up, according to the report.

Rents in August 2022 were still 27.13% higher than they were in August 2021 for single-bedroom units, but those year-over-year gains appear to be evening out, the report said.

“Year-over-year price increases are also starting to moderate, driven by dips in prices in large cities,” Rent.com said its report. “August data shows significant year-over-year decreases in major cities like Los Angeles; Jacksonville, Florida, and Saint Louis, Missouri.”

Average monthly rental costs across the nation for two-bedroom units also saw month-over-month decreases in August, falling by 2.47% to reach $2,054 per month.

That figure was still 23.43% higher than in August 2021, the report said..

Rent relief hasn’t trickled down to smaller cities, the report said.

According to Rent.com, seven of the 10 cities with the biggest increases for one-bedroom rental prices have populations of 300,000 or less.

“From state to state, rents remain largely up compared to this time last year, but more states saw year-over-year decreases in August than any month in 2022,” the report said.

Nearly 91% of one-bedroom rental markets increased in average value, while 91.3% of two-bedroom rental increased in value, Rent.com said.

In California, average monthly rents increased 22.04% from August 2021 to August 2022, jumping from $2,201 to $2,686 a month.

However, a handful of major cities saw rent prices decrease significantly.

In Los Angeles, the average monthly cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment dropped by 15.7%, while Anaheim saw a decline of 22% and Long Beach saw a 24.4% decrease, putting them among the top 10 cities with the biggest rent decreases in the country, Rent.com said.

The average monthly cost of renting a two-bedroom unit dropped 12.7% in Irvine, Rent.com said, putting that city in the top 10 for biggest price drops for two-bedrooms.

However, several California cities ranked in the top 10 in terms of the highest average monthly rents for one-bedroom apartments in the United States, the report said.

According to the Rent.com report, Oakland ranked second with an average monthly rent of $3,849 for a one-bedroom unit, while Glendale came in fourth with $3,715 and San Francisco was fifth with $3,549.

Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment cost $3,124 in San Diego, putting it sixth on the list. San Jose was seventh with $3,084 a month, Irvine was eighth with $2,962 and Fremont was ninth with $2,942.

California cities also accounted for the majority of the top 10 highest average rents for two-bedroom units in the country, with Oakland coming in third place at $5,427 a month, San Francisco in fourth at $4,930 and Los Angeles fifth at $4,489.

San Diego had the sixth highest average rent for a two-bedroom apartment at $4,288 a month. Glendale was in eighth place at $3,919 a month, Fremont was ninth with $3,748 and Irvine was 10th with $3,736.

The report attributed the decline in average rents month-over-month to growing interest in rent control measures.

“A few California cities including Pasadena and Richmond among others have added rent control measures to their November ballots,” Rent.com said. “According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, Maine, Minnesota and Oregon have enacted rent control laws, with more states considering it in light of skyrocketing rent prices.”