By Jorge Casuso

May 30, 2025 -- After rising in each of the first four months of the year, Santa Monica rents decreased by -0.9 percent in May, according to Apartment List's monthly report released Thursday.

Despite the slight drop, local rents remain up by 5.1 percent over the past 12 months, compared to an increase of 1.7 percent in California and a -0.5 dip nationwide, based on millions of listings on the rental website.

This year's 1.3 percent rise over the first five months -- which researchers attribute to the city's proximity to fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades -- marks a turnaround from last's year -2.6 percent decrease.

Santa Monica's overall median rent stands at $2,530, with one-bedroom apartments fetching a median rent of $2,395 and two-bedrooms going for a median rent of $2,871, according to the report.

Santa Monica rents reflect a trend in the national market that saw rent growth "currently slowing at the time of year when it typically ramps up," according to the report.

"Since the second half of 2022, rent prices have continued to ebb and flow with the seasons as they typically do, but with the overall trajectory trending modestly downward," researchers wrote.

Apartment List's national vacancy rate currently sits at 7 percent, the highest it's been since the site began tracking monthly vacancy data in 2017.

The report notes that "2024 saw the most new apartment completions since the mid-1980s, and although we’re past the peak of new multifamily construction, this year is still bringing a robust level of new supply."

After the dip in rents this month, Santa Monica's median rent of $2,530 is now 14.6 percent higher than the metro-wide median of $2,208, down from 16.1 percent higher last month.

In fact, Santa Monica' annual rent growth of 5.1 percent far outpaces the 0.6 percent for the Los Angeles metro area, which includes the 27 cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties included in the Apartment List database.

Calabasas remains the area's most expensive city, with a median rent of $3,386 depite a monthly drop of -1.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Long Beach is the metro’s most affordable city, with a median rent of $1,766. The metro's fastest annual rent growth is taking place in Pasadena (6.2 percent) while the slowest is in Laguna Niguel -3.5 percent.

Apartment List's forecast for the rest of the year remains uncertain.

"As the level of new supply coming online continues to abate, we expect to see occupancy tighten and rent growth strengthen in the back half of this year, assuming that demand remains relatively stable," the report predicted.

But researchers cautioned that "amid a more uncertain macroeconomic outlook, stable demand is far from certain."

The site's monthly report "aims to identify transacted rent prices, as opposed to the listed rent prices." For the report click here