The strongest rental growth will be where there is limited supply and growing demand.
The supply of single family homes with nice sized back yards for kids/dogs in central San Diego is going down each year as more and more are infilled with apartments or second units.
The fastest demand growth IMO will be from retiring upper-middle class boomers. The features that may be most popular for them may be 3 or fewer bedrooms, space for gardening/dogs/grandchildren, walk-able/bikeable neighborhood, single story house and a lot without deep canyons or drops.
For older couples, single retirees, and those without the budget to have guests stay over, condos with a lot of amenities should also do well. Within Central SD and mature North County areas, this is also the fastest growing supply as new lux complexes get built and old dumpy apartment complexes get converted to lux condos.
I think working couples with kids are probably averse to having less than 2 full baths. But retired people with only the occasional guest will probably be more willing to have 1 or 1.5 baths.
I think the coastal areas with plenty of smaller SFH on their own lots, from OB to Carlsbad, is likely the sweet spot for long-term appreciation of both rents and prices. IB and OC seem a tad too remote and downscale to attract boomers with pensions and equity from bigger paid-off residences.
