Rental costs for Fresno see shift since June. Here’s where experts see prices heading

Tim Sheehan
CRAIG KOHLRUSS/ckohlruss@fresnobee.com

The average rent for an apartment in Fresno fell in October to a median of $1,329, the fourth consecutive month of decline after peaking at record levels in June.

The drop of 0.2% reported by ApartmentList.com from September’s median rent of $1,332 in Fresno was small, but aligns with a national trend of falling rents noted by the San Francisco-based rental search and data company over recent months.

“These past two months have marked a rapid cooldown in the (national) market, but the timing of that cooldown is consistent with a seasonal trend that was typical in pre-pandemic years,” the firm’s analysts noted. “Going forward it is likely that rents will continue falling in the coming months as we enter the winter slow season for the rental market.”

Despite the month-to-month declines since the summer, rents in Fresno are higher than they were at the start of 2022. The overall median of $1,329 across all apartment types in October was about 2.7% more than the $1,294 reported in January. For one-bedroom units, the October median estimate was $1,050, up from $1,022 in January. The median for two-bedroom apartments was $1,289 in October, compared to $1.,255 in January.

The median is the point at which half of apartments were leased for more and half for lower prices.

The median overall rent in Fresno topped out at $1,399 per month in June, but has since fallen by $70.

The rent data comes with an important caveat, however: Leases for individual apartment units can vary widely – not only between different areas of a community, but from one apartment complex to another and even from unit to unit within the same complex. The ApartmentList data and analysis methodology does not include public or subsidized affordable housing for low-income renters.

Nationwide, median rents fell by an average of 0.7% between September and October, and rents decreased in 89 of the 100 largest U.S. cities included in the report. Analysts suggest that in addition to seasonal swings, vacancy rates across the country have generally increased, leading to an easing of the upward pressure on rents.

Fresno not only had the lowest median October rent among California’s largest cities, it also had the lowest price among 76 communities studied statewide, by a relatively wide margin. The highest price was in the seaside enclave of Marina del Rey in Los Angeles County, where rents topped $4,800.

For the 10 largest cities included in the analysis, October median rents were:

  • Los Angeles: $1,902 per month.

  • San Diego: $2,420 per month.

  • San Jose: $2,477 per month.

  • San Francisco: $2,268 per month.

  • Fresno: $1,329 per month.

  • Sacramento: $1,656 per month.

  • Long Beach: $1,711 per month.

  • Oakland: $1,666 per month.

  • Anaheim: $2,177 per month.

  • Santa Ana: $2,166 per month.

But just because market-rate rents are lower in Fresno than in other large California cities, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are affordable for many renters in the region. About 60% of renters in Fresno County are considered “rent burdened” under federal guidelines because they pay at least 30% of their monthly gross income on rent and related utilities.

Earlier this year, in fact, Fresno experienced the largest month-over-month percentage increase in median rents for apartments among the 100 largest cities in the U.S., ApartmentList reported.

Advertisement