November 4, 2024 -- Santa Monica rents remained relatively flat in October, dipping by -0.2 percent to a current median rent of $2,440 per month, according to Apartment List's monthly report.
Santa Monica's slight decrease last month reflects a 0.7 percent dip in prices nationwide to $1,394, as the rental market gets "further into the slow season."
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Since the second half of 2022, the seasonal declines "have been steeper than usual and seasonal increases of the spring and summer have been more mild," Apartment list researchers wrote.
"As a result, apartments are on average slightly cheaper today than they were one year ago."
October's dip marks the 10th monthly decrease in Santa Monica rents over the past 12 months and the steepest annual decrease -- 5.5 percent -- among the 25 cities in the Los Angeles metro area that are included in Apartment List database.
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Despite the steep drop, Santa Monica's median rent remains 11.3 percent above the metro-wide median of $2,193 for the wider Los Angeles metro area, the report found.
The most expensive rental market in the area remains Calabasas with a median rent of $3,337, while Long Beach remains the metro’s most affordable city, with a median rent of $1,750.
Santa Monica's median rent of $2,310 for a one bedroom and $2,769 for a two-bedroom remained the second highest among the 11 LA County cities included in the report.
By comparison, the median rent in neighboring Los Angeles was $1,866 for a one-bedroom and $2,380 for a two-bedroom.
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However, eight cities in Orange County had median rents that were higher than those in Santa Monica, according to the report.
Nationwide increases are being moderated by a decades-high number of new apartment units that hit the rental market in 2024 "with considerable runway still to go in the boom," researchers wrote.
Despite a modest bounce back in rental demand this year, apartment List expects "that new supply will continue to outstrip demand into 2025."
The report -- based on the site's millions of listings -- "aims to identify transacted rent prices, as opposed to the listed rent prices." For the report click here