By Jorge Casuso

August 2, 2022 -- Santa Monica rents increased by 1.6 percent in July after growing by less than 1 percent in each of the prior three months, according to Apartment List's monthly report released Tuesday.

Median rents currently stand at $2,073 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,583 for a two-bedroom, according to the popular listing website.

The rent increases in Santa Monica over the past five months -- although mostly small -- followed four months of rent decreases, according to Apartment List data.

Rents have increased a total of 5.1 percent in the first seven months of this year, compared to 6.7 percent for he nation. Last month's 1.6 percent increase in Santa Monica was higher than the 1.1 percent increase nationwide.

"So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021, but faster than they did in the years immediately preceding the pandemic," researchers wrote.

Nationally, "year-over-year rent growth currently stands at 12.3 percent, but has been trending down since the start of the year from a peak of 18 percent."

Meanwhile, the national vacancy index -- which had been gradually easing -- held steady in July at 5 percent, which is well below the norm before the economic shutdown.

"This may be at least partially attributable to spiking mortgage rates, which can contribute to tightness in the rental market by sidelining potential first-time homebuyers from the for-sale market and keeping these households in rental units for longer," researchers wrote.

Rents increased last month in 87 of the nation’s 100 largest cities, including Los Angeles, where rents inched up by 0.3 percent to $1,680 for a one-bedroom apartment.

Marina del Rey remained the most expensive area to rent in the LA region, with the median rent for a one-bedroom reaching $4,650 last month.

The highest rents were concentrated in Orange County, where Irvine fetched the highest median rent for a one-bedroom at $2,700.

It was followed by Newport Beach at $2,690, Lake Forest at $2,590, Mission Viejo at $2,390, Huntington Beach and Laguna Niguel at $2.350 and Costa Mesa at $2,310.

None of those Orange County cities saw an increase of more than 1 percent in July, according to the report.

Overall, the cool down in rents is following a "typical seasonal trend," researchers said.

"As we enter the fall and winter months, rental activity tends to slow, and we are likely to see rent growth continue to cool.

"However, there are no signs that prices will actually fall in a meaningful way, meaning that American renters will continue to be burdened by historically high housing costs," the report concluded.

Apartment List Rent Report data is drawn monthly from the millions of listings on the site, according to the website.

The report calculates one-bedroom and two-bedroom rents and aims to identify transacted rent prices, as opposed to the listed rent prices. To view the full report click here.