Renters feeling the sting ers to leave the area in search of new jobs.
A malaise has now seeped into the San Francisco Bay area’s home-buying market, which is mired in its deepest funk in a decade, according to Dataquick Information systems, a market research firm.
The West’s most expensive apartments remained in Southern California’s largest market, an expanse covering Los Angeles and Orange Counties, where the average monthly rent climbed 7.4 percent to $1,567.
Ventura County narrowed the pricing gap as average rents there increased 8.8 percent to $1,485 at the end of 2006.
The Pacific Northwest’s priciest apartments were in Seattle, where the average monthly payment increased 8.3 percent to $977 in 2006.
Apartment rents declined in just one market, Colorado Springs, Colo., where the average monthly payment dipped by 0.1 percent to $702.
Rents even advanced at a brisk pace in the West’s least expensive market, Tucson, Ariz., where the average monthly payment increased 5.3 percent $650.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 18, 2007. Read the original PDF.