L.A. rental prices may be cooling. Here’s what that feels like.

Good morning. It’s Thursday, March, 14. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• L.A.’s expensive rental market trending down
• Older Californians are now eligible for another COVID-19 vaccine dose
• Michelin just added 10 restaurants to its California guide
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper
  

L.A. rental prices may be cooling. Here’s what that feels like:

A new data point suggests that the L.A. region’s notoriously high-priced rental market may be cooling. But for many, it probably feels like the difference between a 102-degree and 100-degree day during a prolonged heat wave.

Rental prices decreased by 2.5% in February in Los Angeles County compared with a year earlier, Times staff writer Terry Castleman reports.

But does this decline translate to any modicum of renter relief?

“The best deals have been occupied for a long time,” said Dowell Myers, a professor of policy, planning and demography at USC. When renters secure a great deal below market prices, they are reluctant to vacate these units.

Still, predominately young adult apartment searchers flood Facebook housing groups, searching for any leads on finding affordable housing in Southern California’s competitive rental market.

“Young renters are more impacted by price changes because they don’t have access to those deals,” Myers said, acknowledging their struggle to find affordable housing.

Renters on the ground floor

Rick Hefner, 30, was among those searching for housing amid the February price decline.

“I’ve done the whole housing search three times within the past six months, and it’s infuriating,” Hefner said. “Apparently, prices are falling, but it’s still way too expensive.”

Settling in the L.A. area around five years ago, he bounced around apartments until he found a place in Pasadena — a two-bedroom, $3,004-a-month unit he shared with a couple of students from South Korea. He contributed $1,502 plus utilities for his bedroom while his two roommates split the rest and shared the other room.

As his lease agreement was about to expire and his roommates prepared to return to South Korea, Hefner and his parrot found themselves priced out of Pasadena — and much of L.A.

“Pasadena is expensive man,” Hefner said. For these tiny little studios with no AC, they want $2,000 because it’s Old Town Pasadena. I love the area, but it’s too much.”

Looking through L.A. County, many of the places were less than ideal. Several listings demanded multiple concessions, including sharing space with roommates, offering only street parking and requiring move-in prices upward of $4,500.

“I don’t make a ton of money, and it’s not like I can get an apartment for two grand by myself,” Hefner said. “You can’t even find a place under $1,000 anymore, even on Craigslist. I could not find anything. Unless it’s like, ‘Hey, you want to share an air mattress in my studio?’”

Tired of sifting through scores of listings, many of which turned out to be scams or misrepresented, he opted to pay $1,850 for a studio in North Hollywood — $350 above his budget.

Hefner works remotely on a contract basis in the entertainment industry, designing concept art for video games. His home is also his workspace.

Fortunately, he and his significant other found that the 600-square-foot studio is spacious enough to accommodate his equipment, furniture and a bird cage.

How much of a drop?

Hefner’s search could have been worse. Although L.A. County’s 2.5% rental price decrease is the second biggest of any county in the state, regional prices tend to vary.

Rent has risen by as much as 3.8% in several Northern California counties year over year, while most large Southern California counties saw a drop in rents.

Alameda County, an exception to rising rent in the Bay Area, recorded rent downturn of 4.7% from February 2023, representing the 19th biggest annual drop in the U.S. Orange County was an exception to falling rent in Southern California, with rent rising 1.6%.

Experts link lower rents to a possible drop in demand after population losses during a recent exodus from parts of Southern California. As the state’s population has stagnated, some believe demand may cool and dampen rent growth.

Falling rents suggest either that “supply has finally caught up or that slower economic growth and/or population outmigration has weakened demand,” Myers said.

The 10 counties nationwide that saw the most significant drops in rent last February were all in states with population booms but with robust housing construction in recent years: Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

An increase in housing stock could keep rent prices down and, coupled with a population decrease, benefit Californians.

But for now, even with this February decrease, housing supply and demand will continue to leave the state’s rental market unaffordable for many.

Today’s top stories

A Waymo has announced its new robotaxi fleet service across Los Angeles. Above, one of its driverless cars in downtown L.A.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Transportation

• Waymo to launch robotaxi service in Los Angeles, but no freeway driving — for now.
• Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down a security line at San Francisco International Airport.

Politics

• Congress is threatening to ban TikTok. Here’s what you should know.
• Biden promised California’s gig worker law would go national. Why he can’t get it done.
• How cryptocurrency executives helped decide the California Senate primary.
• Tenant rights lawyer Ysabel Jurado pulls ahead of Councilmember Kevin de León in L.A. election.

Crime and courts

• A beauty store employee tried to stop shoplifters. Now, she’s fighting for her life.
• Haunted by a legacy of police misconduct, Oakland grapples for answers to street crime surge.
• A S.F. State employee who oversaw sexual misconduct and discrimination cases alleges retaliation.
• UTA battle: Lawsuits and a $950,000 expense account fuel fight between Hollywood agency and ex-partner.
• House GOP launches new probe of Jan. 6, tries shifting blame for Capitol attack away from Trump.

More big stories

• A landslide damages homes and forces evacuations in Sherman Oaks.
• Older Californians are now eligible for another COVID-19 vaccine dose.
• Feel like somebody’s watching you inside an Airbnb? Not for long, company says.
• Santa Ana winds will whip across California, with power outages and downed trees likely.
• Elon Musk’s X cancels partnership with Don Lemon before his new show even begins.
• Methane emissions from the energy industry are triple what the government thinks, a study finds.
• How do animals react during a total solar eclipse? Scientists plan to find out in April.
• Southern California home prices rise in February, near a record.
• New rooms, tours, activities: Queen Mary is royal again, Long Beach says. But at a whopping cost.
• The L.A. Marathon is Sunday. Here are the road closures to avoid.
• The presence of a parasite that’s deadly for dogs is now confirmed in California: Signs to watch for.
  

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Commentary and opinions

• Jackie Calmes: Have Democrats finally stopped wimping out?
• Editorial: California’s rat poison bans aren’t working. Wild animals and pets are still dying.
• Mark Z. Barabak: Forget Dodgers vs Giants. Schiff’s Senate win is ‘a paradigm shift’ in California’s north-south divide.
• Gustavo Arellano: Cal-Mex is having a moment in New York. But how does it taste?
• Dylan Hernández: Shohei Ohtani became ‘a being above the clouds’ in Hokkaido. How the locals can reclaim him.
• Bill Plaschke: Shohei Ohtani and Dodgers need to follow the Shaq-Lakers success blueprint.
• Mary McNamara: How ‘The Girls on the Bus’ depicts journalists would be fun, if it weren’t so dangerous.
• George Skelton: Hubris, thy name is Gavin.

Today’s great reads

(Deep Sea Vision)

How explorers found Amelia Earhart’s watery grave. Or did they? The Deep Sea Vision team was out to solve the greatest aviation mystery of all: the disappearance of Amelia Earhart on July 2, 1937, during her epic flight around the world.

Other great reads

• This tarot reader wants so badly to tell you your future.
• Israel’s religious right has a clear plan for Gaza: ‘We are occupying, deporting and settling.’
• How Caitlin Clark re-created the iconic Kobe Bryant photo with a trophy in a shower stall.
  

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

(Ross May / Los Angeles Times; Photos by Evan Agostini / Invision / AP; Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 🎵🎤 Kanye doubled down on anti-Semitic lyrics. Now he’s headlining a major L.A. festival.
• 🍴Michelin just added 10 restaurants to its California guide, and nine are in L.A.
• 🎤 The 8 Latin acts we are excited to check out at SXSW.

Staying in

• 🎧 Neil Young returns his music to Spotify, ‘except for the full sound we created.’
• 📺 ‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’: 6 key takeaways from the documentary.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here are 3.14 great pie recipes to try for Pi Day.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... from our archives

An L.A. Times newspaper from 2005 that includes Bob Iger’s new role as Disney’s chief executive.

(Los Angeles Times)

On March 14, 2005, Walt Disney Co. selected Bob Iger to replace Michael Eisner as the company’s chief executive. For 15 years, Iger had a magical touch at Disney until he retired in 2020. His retirement was short-lived after he returned to the company in late 2022 to replace his beleaguered successor, Bob Chapek. In the year since his return, the Times’ Meg James reports, he’s been trying to fix one problem after another in nearly every corner of the Burbank behemoth.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Anthony De Leon, reporting fellow
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor

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