As Some Bay Area Rents Dip, Concord Rents Spikes

CONCORD (KPIX 5) -- There's finally some relief for renters in most Bay Area cities. But you may be surprised to hear, where apartment prices are now soaring.

In San Francisco, rents are down about 2.5 percent. San Jose, Palo Alto, and Santa Clara are also seeing a drop in rent prices.

But that's not the case everywhere in the Bay Area.

Betty Gabaldon just got a $1 raise at work. But still, she says living in Concord is getting tough.

Gabaldon said, "…if my rent goes up I'm going to have to move."

Last year her landlord tried to raise her rent by $350 to $1,675. Tenants fought it and the landlord backed off.

But in Concord there is no rent control.

According to Apartmentlist.com, rent for a 2-bedroom unit in Concord is up 6.8 percent.

In Pleasanton, it's up 8 percent, as renters from other communities drive up the prices.

Edi Birsan is the vice mayor of Concord and said, "Displacement from SF and Oakland...is a terrible burden on those people...but it's a terrible burden on all of us."

Birsan says in some pockets of Concord, rents are going up 50 to 100 percent.

He tried to pass a moratorium on rent hikes last November. It failed.

Birsan said, "This measure will not go away...this issue will not go Way and I'm not going to go away and forget about it"

According to city data, about 40 percent of residents in Concord are renters, spending about half their income to pay rent.

Realtors say the rent is often far higher than their monthly mortgage would be.

Concord realtor Denisen Hartlove said, "When rents go up you do see more people buying than before."

Buying is not an option right now for Gabaldon. She's just hoping she can stay in the community she calls home.

"We are still in limbo, we don't know if my rent is going to go up this year…I still don't know what's going to happen," Gabaldon said.

Rents in Oakland also ticked up just under 1 percent. There, the median cost of a 2-bedroom apartment is about $2,500.