San Diego’s turning into more of a renter’s market, with close to half of all households now renting. According to a new Redfin study, about 48% of people in the San Diego metro area are renters, placing us just behind cities like San Jose (52%), Los Angeles/Orange County (51%), and New York (49%).
This isn’t just a local trend; homeownership is slowing nationwide. Renter households in the U.S. grew nearly 3% recently, marking one of the biggest jumps in years. With home prices staying high and mortgage rates elevated, a lot of people—especially younger ones—are finding that renting is simply the only realistic option.
Back at the start of 2020, only about 43% of San Diego’s households were renters. Fast forward to this year, and that figure has risen to 48%, while the homeownership rate has dropped from 57% to 52%. Redfin’s analysis points out that the cost of renting has remained mostly flat across the nation, including in San Diego, over the last year, even as home prices have gone up around 6%. This gap makes renting a more practical choice for a lot of people who might have otherwise considered buying a home.
Adding to this shift, new apartment buildings are going up like crazy. San Diego County alone saw more housing built in 2023 than in any year in the past decade. Most of these new homes were multifamily units like apartments, helping keep rents relatively steady even as home prices have climbed about 6%.
Compared to the national picture, San Diego has a significantly higher share of renters. Across the U.S., about 34% of households rent, which is much lower than San Diego’s 48%. By contrast, Cape Coral, Florida, has one of the lowest renter rates at 22%, with most households owning their homes.
