Inland Empire rents jump 6.4% in year

It wasn’t a good year for Southern Californian renters in 2003, especially in the Inland Empire, where the average monthly rent in San Bernardino and Riverside counties rose 6.4%, to $949, from 2002. That was the biggest annual rent increase in the West, according to a quarterly survey by RealFacts, a research firm in Novato, Calif.

Average rents in San Diego ($1,182), Los Angeles ($1,346) and Orange ($1,273) counties rose between 3.3% and 4% from the year before, the study said. The metropolitan areas surveyed were in California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Rents continued to decline in the San Francisco Bay area, where a high-tech bust that began in late 2000 resulted in mass layoffs and pared paychecks, forcing landlords to lower prices to retain and attract cash-strapped tenants.

Dramatic increase in housing starts

U.S. housing starts unexpectedly rose to a 2.088 million annual rate last month, aided by low-interest rates that helped produce the strongest year for the industry since 1978.

The December pace was the fastest since February 1984 and brought the number of homes started in 2003 to 1.848 million, the Commerce Department said last week.

The National Assn. of Home Builders projects 1.774 million homes will be started in 2004, making it the third-best year in 25 years. Demand will be helped by mortgage rates close to a record low, an improving economy and order backlogs that have hit a record at some builders.

Briefly

* Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 5.64% last week, down from 5.66% the week before, and were the lowest since 5.52% in mid-July, Freddie Mac said. The average rate for 15-year loans slipped to 4.95% from 4.97%.