Report: Fresno 1 bedroom rents up 40% year-over-year; Bay Area rents stay near top
FRESNO – While apartment rents in the Bay Area continue to be among the highest in the nation, a new report finds rents in Fresno have risen at a staggering rate in the past year.
According to real estate website Zumper, the median rent for a one bedroom in Fresno is $1,540, up 40% than this time last year and the biggest increase in the country. Meanwhile, the median two bedroom rent is $1,740, up 21%.
"Some new residents were drawn to California's fifth-largest city from more-expensive cities along the Pacific Coast, a trend that intensified during the pandemic. But this pattern actually predates the pandemic," the website said, noting that Amazon had opened a warehouse in Fresno in 2019 that brought thousands of jobs to the region.
The retail giant is set to open a second warehouse in the city late this year.
Zumper noted the negative impacts for renters in the state's poorest major city, saying in its report, "Current residents—a majority of whom are minorities—are facing an affordability crisis and growing inequalities in housing opportunities."
Meanwhile in the Bay Area, San Francisco and San Jose remained, respectively, the second and third most expensive cities to rent in the nation.
In San Francisco, the median one bedroom rent in San Francisco was $3,040, down 1.9% from July, but up 8.6% from this time last year. The median two bedroom rent was $4,200, up 0.7 from last month and up 9.7% year-over-year.
Meanwhile in San Jose, the median one bedroom rent of $2,780 is up 2.6% from last month and up 26% year-over-year. A two bedroom is $3,280, up slightly from last month (0.9%) and up 20.6% from this time last year.
While Bay Area rents remain high, home prices are also at record highs, and rising interest rates have made it more challenging for people to buy.
The nation's most expensive rent is in New York City, as rents skyrocket two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A median one bedroom in the Big Apple is now $3,930, up 39% year-over-year.