How much did West Hollywood market-rate rents go up in 2015 and 2016?

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This report updates our prior estimates of market-rate rent increases in West Hollywood and nearby areas.

We have two data sources. The first is the City, which reports the average rents paid by new tenants in older, rent-stabilized apartments. New tenants start at the market rate, even in rent-stabilized units. We created a Rent Stabilized New Tenant (RSNT) index to summarize the numbers.

The second source is the Zillow Rent Index, which is probably more attuned to newer, market-rate housing.

Rent increases by year

The chart below shows our estimates for year-to-year increases in West Hollywood market-rate rents. The RSNT index is in green, Zillow is in blue. We don’t have 2016 RSNT data yet. You can see the values by hovering over or touching the columns.

The Zillow data suggests that increases in market-rate rents peaked at 12% in 2015 and then dropped to 5% in 2016. They averaged 6% or so in recent years. The RSNT index showed steady annual increases of about 6% since 2012. During the same period, the maximum allowable annual increase for existing tenants in rent-stabilized units was 1.25% or less.

2016 increase compared to nearby areas

We used the Zillow index to compare increases in West Hollywood’s market-rate rents to nearby areas. Increases in 2016 ranged from 4% in Westwood to 9% in Hollywood. West Hollywood’s 5% was toward the low end. The year before, the city’s 12% increase was close to the top.

Hollywood and Beverly Hills stayed near the top in both years, though the growth rates slowed. Hollywood went from 12% in 2015 to 9% in 2016. Beverly Hills went from 14% to 7%. Santa Monica showed the biggest change, going from a 16% rent increase in 2015 to 5% in 2016.

Market-rate rents for older, rent-stabilized units

The chart below shows the the average move-in rents for rent-stabilized apartments in West Hollywood in 2015. New tenants are charged market-rate rents.