Average Rent Continues to Climb, Passing $1,100 Figure Last Quarter

After breaking through the $1,000-a-month rental barrier last year, rents for apartments in Orange County inched above the $1,100 figure for the second quarter, according to a recent survey.

As in the last few quarters, average rent jumped 10% year-to-year to reach a record high, this time hitting $1,106 a month.

While the number of renters remains plentiful, finding an apartment remains difficult. The overall vacancy rate edged up slightly to 3.3% from 3.1% a year ago, indicating a market still so tight that many units could be filled from those on waiting lists, according to RealFacts, a Novato firm that conducted the survey.

The survey of apartment complexes with 58 units or more shows that rents countywide have risen steadily, spurred by robust job growth and home prices. A lack of available land also has helped curb new development, leading to higher rents. Increases in bigger complexes tend to pull up rents in smaller units.

All rental types, from studios to townhouses, garnered bigger rents during the quarter. But the biggest change was registered among three-bedroom, two-bathroom units. Those apartments increased on average to $1,598, or $210 a month over the same period last year, the survey found.

Daryl Strickland covers real estate for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5670 and at daryl.strickland@latimes.com.