Tenants’ market: Rents drop in 11 of 13 Inland Empire cities

The Inland Empire rental market remains tilted in favor of tenants.

That’s what my trusty spreadsheet found when it reviewed the September rent data from ApartmentList , which tracks pricing in 13 cities across the Inland Empire using an index of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

Consider that rents declined in 11 of the 13 cities in the year ending in September. But in the previous 12 months, rents fell in just seven of those cities.

Why? A host of factors overcame initial fears that the loss of housing in January’s Los Angeles wildfires would boost rents regionally. The region’s job market is also weak, cutting demand. And new construction has prompted local landlords to offer discounts to fill their newly available units.

City watch

Here are the local rent swings, ranked by pr