Amid a major slump in home prices and volatile world stock markets, the nation's rental apartments represented the "epitome of stability," according to a report released Wednesday.
Nationwide, rental prices and occupancy rates were "virtually unchanged," says the report by Novato, Calif.-based RealFacts, which collects rental data for large apartment complexes.
The report, for the third quarter of this year, found that Torrance rents rose 2 percent to $1,555, compared to the same period last year. Occupancy dropped slightly by 1.9 percent to a still-robust 97.3 percent.
By comparison, Long Beach rents rose 3.3 percent to $1,492 in the third quarter, while occupancy was at 95.6 percent, unchanged from the same time last year.
Los Angeles County's rents rose 2.6 percent. That brought the average rent for a unit in a large apartment complex to $1,716.
Los Angeles County's rise was low by historical standards, but still higher than Orange County's increase of 1.8 percent, to $1,603, the report says.
The occupancy rate in Los Angeles County in the July-to-September period was 94.7 percent, down 1 percent over last year.
Orange County's occupancy rate was slightly lower at 94.5 percent.
Rents at some apartment buildings rose for Beach Front Real Estate Services, a Long Beach property management and investment firm with 2,500 units across Southern California including the South Bay.
"I would say they've probably gone up a tad," said Kyle Kazan, CEO of the real estate firm. "But I don't think that trend will go from the third quarter of this year to the third quarter of next year. I think it will be reversed. I think we're seeing the tipping point now."
Kazan said the apartments where he was most likely to raise rents were at under-priced buildings for which his company had recently taken over management.
As the economy weakens, the higher-end apartments have been seeing the greatest softening in tenant demand, Kazan said.
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