California's Rental Housing Crisis Has Come to the Capital

Richard Chang tells one of the dominant stories of Sacramento's recovery from the Great Recession: "A healthy job market and population growth are fueling demand, while the supply of rentals remained stagnant as developers shied away from building during the past decade."

Now, reports Chang, "Sacramento’s rents are so high that the capital region is now the fastest-growing rent market in the nation with year-over-year increases of 11 percent, according to Yardi Matrix, the real estate research arm of Santa Barbara software company Yardi Systems. Occupancy rates have hit 96.8 percent."

Sacramento's surging rents are concentrated in the midtown and downtown neighborhoods, according to Change, who also takes a tour of examples of apartment complexes that have been recently renovated and adjusted to the market.

As for why Sacramento has had a hard time developing rental units since the Great Recession, Chang cites Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen, who says that the city's stagnant development market is a result of the end of redevelopment funding from the state.