Rents are lower now. It seems that anyone with a pulse has qualified to purchase a home, and rentals are staying on the market a long time, driving the prices down.
I am speaking of my experience over the last 45 days looking for a rental home in Poway and Rancho Bernardo.
This week I read a study going back over 30 years in SD, and the rents were usually $1.15/sq ft in North Cty Inland. Currently, these are $1/sq ft, sometimes a little more if the lot is really big or it’s an exclusive neighborhood. Some owners are asking more, but their rentals are still vacant. We will be paying $1/sq ft for a 2000 sq ft nice duplex built in 2003. During my search I witnessed reductions on rental prices, and find that a 2900 sq ft brand new house is still vacant after 105 days on market (MLS listing for rent), despite coming down from $3200/month to $2600/month. We almost took it, but decided to cut our costs a little while renting.
I get a kick out of asking the owners why they are renting and not selling. They are all speculating that prices will go up.
