LOS ANGELES, April 9 (UPI) -- A glut of housing options has pushed Southern California rents lower after a long period of increases, a real estate research group said.
Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast said a high number of foreclosures and increased unemployment would contribute to a 3.5 percent average decline in rent in Los Angeles County this year.
Rents would drop 2.4 percent in Orange County and less than 1 percent in nearby San Bernadino and Riverside counties, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
Rents in Los Angeles County fell 5.8 percent in 2009 after being on the rise in previous years.
With the economy slow, an additional 5,700 apartments were added to the housing market last year in Los Angeles County and 4,800 are expected to be built this year, the newspaper said.
"The takeaway is that the economy is showing some small signs of improvement. All markets are going to perform better than the previous year, but for some that still means a decline," said University of Southern California Professor Tracey Seslen at the Lusk Center for Real Estate.
