Few areas of the metro area are spared from rent losses in October
By Joshua Ohl via CoStar
CoStar Analytics
November 5, 2025 | 1:47 P.M.
In what has by now become an all-too-familiar pattern, apartment rents fell month over month during October, continuing the drought in rent growth that has now stretched to five months.
Rents fell 0.4% in October, and on an annualized basis, rents have been flat at an average asking rent of $2,525 per month. During the five-month downturn, rents fell by over 1%.
Rent losses were spread across the property classes in October, with mid-tier properties recording the worst month-over-month losses at 0.7%. Rents in both the luxury sector and naturally occurring affordable housing fell 0.3%.
High living costs and economic stress — inflation in San Diego has outpaced wage growth over the past five years — have been among the limiting factors in raising rents. Landlords have often had to revise rents downward to fill units and to keep them filled, placing leverage squarely in the hands of renter households.
At the neighborhood level, few green shoots emerged during October. Only two pockets of the region, the Mission Valley area and beach towns in Central San Diego, were able to sidestep rent losses month over month. However, while rents did not fall, they also didn’t rise.
Rent losses were well distributed across the county in October, although rent losses piled up more notably along the south Interstate 15 corridor than anywhere else. Rents fell 1.2% month over month along those neighborhoods, bringing annual rent losses to 1.5%.
Landlords in University Town Center didn’t fare much better in October. Rents fell 0.9% to an average of $3,220 per month, and rent losses in October were sufficient to drag annual rent growth into the red.
Downtown’s rents tumbled 0.6% in October to an average of nearly $3,100 per month. For the past 12 months, rents have fallen 1.2%.
East County and South County neighborhoods matched Downtown’s month-over-month losses in October. Those areas have traditionally been among San Diego’s most affordable, and each has recently navigated supply-side pressure. Lease-ups have generally been slower than expected, and households in these areas have been economically stressed, with landlords reporting that vacancies are often tied to renter households leaving the San Diego region in search of more affordable housing markets. These areas have also benefited over the years from international migration, but that has been drastically curtailed.
The employment of concessions by landlords has shown no signs of slowing. In October, 4 of 10 properties contacted by CoStar research reported the use of concessions, with free rent and look-and-lease specials especially common. Both the use of concessions and weaker rent growth are anticipated to stretch into 2026.
Reposted with permission from CoStar
