It is getting tougher to find a home for rent in San Diego County as the vacancy rate is at its lowest point in more than a decade.
The San Diego County Apartment Association says rental units are in high demand.
"This is an unbelievably low vacancy rate for our region,” SDCAA executive director Alan Pentico said. “The last time we saw numbers this low was in 2002, when the overall vacancy rate was 2.5 percent. The demand for rental housing just keeps getting stronger."
The countywide vacancy rate has slipped to 2.8 percent in the spring. That's down from 4.5 percent during the same time last year.
The association's Molly Kirkland says more than half the people who live in San Diego live in rental housing.
"Rentals are in more demand because you have younger generations looking for amenities, being closer to urban cores or transit, and even the mobility a rental might offer," Kirkland said.
The low vacancy rate did not lead to higher rents, however. The countywide average rent fell 5 percent from $1,330 a month to $1,260 during the past year, according to Kirkland.
The association said the county has more than 300,000 rental units and more are being built.
