Rents are absolutely skyrocketing. My lease is up next month and I got a notice of a 10% increase. All people I know who are renters have also got notices of similar increases.

But compared to buying renting is still slightly cheaper right now. I rent my 1bd 680sqft for $1400/mo in South Orange County (Mission Viejo). 1 bd condos are going for around $300k over here. HOA+Prop. taxes would be $560/mo. Mortgage with 20% down/30yr fixed would be another $1440/mo. Tax advantages and downpayment interest opportunity cost cancels out. So it would cost roughly $1960/mo. to own. vs $1400/mo. to rent a similar place.

At the 1 bd pricepoint a purchase may be worth entertaining if you can get a deal 10% below asking, which should be feasible in todays market, but this disparity between renting and buying gets bigger as you go to 2 and 3 bedroom homes.