Report: 33% of LA apartment hunters looking to move to other cities

A new report shows that 33% of apartment hunters in Los Angeles are looking to move outside of the city, with Phoenix, Las Vegas and Riverside garnering the most interest.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Report: 33% of LA apartment hunters looking to move to other cities
A new report shows that 33% of apartment hunters in Los Angeles are looking to move outside of the city, with Phoenix garnering the most interest.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The coronavirus pandemic hasn't stopped a considerable number of apartment hunters in Los Angeles from searching for a new home in other cities, according to a new report.

Renter search data compiled by Apartment List, an online rental platform, shows 33% of its L.A. users looking for a new apartment are searching for listings outside the city.

The platform's Renter Migration Report finds the top destination outside of L.A. is Phoenix, which comprises nearly 22% of searches. Las Vegas and Riverside round out the top three with 13% and 11% of searches, respectively.

Los Angeles rental prices drop for first time in a decade, possibly because of coronavirus stay-at-home orders

Average rental prices in the Los Angeles area have fallen for the first time in a decade.

Meanwhile, 32.1% of those looking to live in L.A. are from outside the metropolitan area, with most of the searches coming from Riverside, followed by Phoenix and Charlotte.

The report provides an early glimpse into how the coronavirus pandemic might be impacting where renters are looking to live, and while Apartment List does expect that COVID-19 could have a significant impact on moving trends in the long-term, the company says the new data is similar to what they saw before the pandemic.

The report also stated that the share of renters with imminent move dates rose 10% year-over-year as shelter-in-place orders started to go into effect in the second half of March.

Rental prices in the L.A. area are down for the first time in nearly a decade, according to CoStar, a research firm that tracks commercial real estate information.