SAN DIEGO — A new report shows on average, rental prices throughout San Diego are on the decline.
The report, by rental website Zumper, also found where you’ll find the cheapest and most expensive rents.
Out of 11 cities in San Diego County, Encinitas ranked number one as having the highest rent, where one bedroom units can cost an average of $2,680.
The city with the lowest average rent is El Cajon - where a one bedroom is $900 less at $1,780.
"Our rental data that we look at every month includes new construction, but excludes listings that are no longer available or are currently occupied,” said Crystal Chen, a spokesperson for Zumper.
Chen told CBS8, nationally, San Diego ranks 9th in rent prices, behind places like Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and New York, where one bedroom rents average $4500.
The good news - Chen says their study found in most places county wide, rents have gone down since last year, dropping from .6 percent in El Cajon to nearly eight percent in La Mesa.
"There's been a ton of new supply hitting the market. More than 4,000 new apartments are becoming available across San Diego county this year. So that's helping, you know, push prices down, or at the very least, slow down any increases. The U.S. Census Bureau also showed that, I think 31,000 more people moved out of the county than last year than moved in. So, you know, that probably resulted in a slight dip in the San Diego population overall, and that has probably lessened some of the rental demand as well," said Chen.
Chen says those factors can give renters more negotiating powers when signing a new lease.
Moving forward, she expects rents will stay at this level if not drop a bit more, saying it's a relief given what's happened in the San Diego market since 2020.
"If you compare where one beds in San Diego are now versus, you know, pre pandemic, like February, March of 2020, rents are up 30% in the last, you know, four years. So, this is why I feel like this report is good news for San Diego renters, because rents seem like they're they finally are coming down from those crazy peaks like two years ago.”
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