Apartment rents rising quickly in SLO, new data shows. Here’s how much they cost now
The cost of rent for an apartment in San Luis Obispo has increased significantly compared to this time last year, according to recent data from rent.com.
The report, which compiles listings from apartments.com and rent.com, paints a picture of thousands of rents on the rise.
The average cost of a studio apartment is up to $2,024 a month, an increase of 18% from this time last year.
One-bedroom apartments increased in monthly average rent even more. Rent.com’s data found the average rent in 2022 was $3,123 a month, a 51% increase over last year.
Two-bedroom apartments, which now average $3,479 a month, also saw a 25% increase from last year’s rates. The report also offered analysis of the most affordable locations in the city.
“The most affordable neighborhoods in San Luis Obispo are Highland, where the average 1-bedroom apartment rent goes for $1,800, Mill Street Historic District, where renters pay $1,935 on average for a one-bedroom apartment, and Downtown SLO, where the average one-bedroom apartment rent goes for $2,500,” the report said.
The report also broke down the range of available apartment pricing, finding no available units for rent in the $501-$700 or $701-$1000 ranges.
Meanwhile, apartments in the $1,001-$1,500 range made up just 8% of the available market, while apartments in the $1,501-$2,100 range made up 37% of the market.
However, it was apartments in the top price bracket — $2,101 or higher — that made up the most significant share of the market, occupying more of half of all available housing at 55%.
Not all neighborhoods in SLO experienced the same level of growth compared to the average, though.
Downtown SLO experienced no real change in rent cost in any size of home, whereas Broad Street experienced some of the most significant changes of any neighborhood.
Broad Street also was the neighborhood most consistent with the city’s average, seeing increases of 26%, 47% and 25% in the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment categories, respectively. This aligned closely with the citywide trends in these categories.
This story was originally published June 25, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
