By Jorge Casuso

April 23, 2025 -- The price of a rent control apartment in Santa Monica increased slightly in each of the past four years, while the turnover rate for recently rented units remains high, according to the Rent Board's 2024 annual report.

The report released last week also shows that of the 27,668 controlled rental units in the City, 20,971, or 75.8 percent, have been rented at market rate at least once since vacancy decontrol took full effect in 1999.

Controlled Rental Units by Unit Size (Chart Courtesy of Rent Control Board)

Only 5,727 of the units, or 20.7 percent, remain occupied by renters who moved into their units before the Costa-Hawkins Rental Act took full effect, and those tenants paid a median rent of $1,117 last year.

That was 140 percent less than the $2,683 median rent paid by those who moved in after the law took full effect.

Tenants who rented before market rates kicked in "likely realize the financial benefits of remaining in place," while those who started renting in 2022 had a high turnover rate, the report found.

"More tenancies ended in 2024 of those started in 2022 than from tenancies started in the prior 15-year period combined, " according to the report.

Last year, the median Maximum Allowable Rent (MAR) rose by $58 to $1,853 for a rent control studio, by $86 to $2,295 for a one-bedroom, by $119 to $2,871 for a two-bedroom and by $116 to $3,162 for a three-bedroom.

"On average, initial median rents for 1- and 2-bedroom units, which
comprise over 80 percent of the controlled housing stock, have risen only about two percent annually since 2021," according to the report.

The report found that last year, six properties totaling 20 units were withdrawn from the rental market under the 1989 Ellis Act, which allows landlords to get out of the rent control market.

For only the seventh time in 39 years, the rental market actually gained controlled units in 2024 after seven formerly withdrawn properties totaling 34 units were returned to residential rental use.

Since the Ellis Act was enacted, 696 properties totaling 3,354 units have been withdrawn from the rental market, while 194 properties totaling 1,050 units, or 31 percent, were eventually returned to the rent control market.

In 2024, the Rent Control Agency received 74 eviction notices, fewer than the 85 received in 2023, according to the report.

Last year, the price of buyout offers made by landlords rose to a ten year high, with the 21 offers filed averaging $62,542.

The average buyout offer for the two studios that were filed was $10,525, while the average price of a buyout for the two three-bedroom units was $250,000.