LA Rental Market Update, Q4 2026: Rents, Vacancy, Rates and Rent Caps

For Owners · Market Update · October 2026 · 8 min read

This update sticks to numbers a government agency or Freddie Mac published, with a link to each one. No private listing-site averages and no rounded guesses. Where an official source does not publish a Los Angeles figure, we say so instead of filling the gap.

Four things moved this fall. HUD’s new Fair Market Rents for Los Angeles took effect October 1 and are well above last year’s. The Census Bureau’s third-quarter vacancy survey, released October 28, shows more empty rentals nationally and in the West. Mortgage rates are above 7% again. And the allowable increases in the City of Los Angeles, Culver City and Beverly Hills reset over the summer.

Rents: HUD’s Fair Market Rents jumped on October 1

HUD publishes a Fair Market Rent for every metro area each year. It is an estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent, meaning rent plus utilities, paid by recent movers into standard-quality units. It is not an asking-rent average, and it lags the market, but it is an official rent figure for Los Angeles that HUD updates every year, and it is the basis housing authorities use to set Section 8 payment standards.

The fiscal year 2027 figures took effect October 1, 2026. For the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area, which covers Los Angeles County:

Two things follow for owners. If you rent to voucher holders, the housing authority’s payment standard is built from these figures, so check the current standard before you set or renew a voucher rent. And because the figure includes utilities, compare it with your rent plus whatever utilities the tenant pays, not with the rent alone.

What this does not tell you is what your unit will lease for. A gross-rent estimate for the whole county says little about a 1950s duplex in Palms versus a new building in Inglewood. Price each vacancy against current comparable listings on your own block.

Vacancy: higher nationally and in the West

The Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey for the third quarter of 2026, released October 28, puts the national rental vacancy rate at 7.6%. That is up from 7.3% in the second quarter and 7.1% in the third quarter of 2025. In the West, the region that includes California, rental vacancy was 6.7%, up from 6.0% a year earlier. The national median asking rent for vacant units was $1,541.

The quarterly release does not publish a Los Angeles figure, so we are not going to invent one. The direction is the useful part: more vacant units in the region than a year ago means more competition for each applicant, and an empty month costs a full month’s rent. Before you hold out for a higher number, work out how many weeks of vacancy it would take to wipe out the difference over a year.

Financing: the 30-year fixed is back above 7%

Freddie Mac’s weekly survey had the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 7.32% as of October 22, 2026, down from 7.40% the week before but well above the 6.19% of a year earlier. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.68%.

These are averages for conventional home-purchase loans, not quotes for apartment loans, which price differently. They still set the direction. If a loan on one of your buildings matures or resets in the next year or two, run the numbers at today’s rates now, and talk to your lender and CPA before you plan around a refinance.

Rent caps in force this fall

Each of these resets on its own calendar. Confirm the figure for the date your increase takes effect, not the date you serve the notice.

Inglewood sets its limit by building size, with a different formula for buildings of five or more units than for four or fewer. Our Inglewood rent increase guide covers how it works.

Rule changes from this year that are now in effect

City of Los Angeles

From July 1, 2026, the RSO increase is 90% of CPI with a 1% floor and a 4% cap, replacing the old range of 3% to 8%. The utility add-ons that owners could put on top of the annual increase were eliminated on February 2, 2026. RSO generally covers units in buildings with a certificate of occupancy issued on or before October 1, 1978. Our RSO registration guide covers the annual bill, which comes due in January.

Measure ULA thresholds also moved for sales after June 30, 2026: $5.4 million for the 4% rate and $10.9 million for the 5.5% rate. Confirm any transfer tax with your escrow officer and CPA.

Culver City

Amendments adopted January 12, 2026 took effect February 11, 2026 and renamed Chapter 15.09 the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Registration is due by July 31 each year, and the fee is $177 per unit from July 1, 2026. Details are in our Culver City rent increase guide.

Beverly Hills

Relocation fees reset on July 1, 2026: $8,636.20 for a studio, $12,756.96 for a one-bedroom and $17,283.53 for two or more bedrooms, plus $2,000 if a tenant is 62 or older, disabled or a minor. Which grounds trigger the fee is covered in our Beverly Hills ending-a-tenancy guide.

What to do this quarter

• Check the payment standard before you renew a Section 8 tenancy, since the FMR it is built from rose on October 1.
• Price vacancies to lease. With regional vacancy up from a year ago, compare a higher asking rent against the cost of an extra month empty.
• Confirm which cap applies to each unit and the period it falls in before you serve a notice.
• Put your LAHD registration bill on the calendar for January if you own in the City of Los Angeles.
• If a loan matures within two years, get a current quote now rather than counting on lower rates.

If you want help applying any of this to a specific building, read about our flat fee management or see our pages for Los Angeles, Culver City, Inglewood and Beverly Hills. Our earlier summer 2026 update covers the July rent cap changes in more detail.

Sources and disclaimer. HUD, FY2027 Fair Market Rent schedule and FY2026 schedule (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale HMFA), and the Federal Register notice of September 1, 2026 (effective date and definition); U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership, Third Quarter 2026 (CB26-161, October 28, 2026); Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey, release of October 22, 2026; Los Angeles Housing Department; City of Culver City Housing and Human Services; Beverly Hills Municipal Code sections 4-6-3 and 4-6-9; California Attorney General rent cap guidance. Current as of October 28, 2026. Percentage changes in the FMR table are our arithmetic from HUD’s figures. This article is general information from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal, tax or investment advice. Confirm rent limits with the city and anything legal or tax-related with an attorney or CPA before you act.