It now costs more to rent an average apartment in Manteca than in Sacramento.

The average rent in Manteca is $1,932 a month compared to $1,855 for Sacramento.

Manteca also continues to be more expensive than Modesto at $1,657, Stockton at $1,539, and Turlock at $1,528.

Compared to San Jose and San Francisco, the average Manteca apartment rent is a bargain. San Francisco is at $3,340 and San Jose is at $3,031.

Manteca is also less expensive than Tracy at $2,455 and Livermore at 2,559.

The average rents for various cities as compiled by Rent Cafe misses market-specific nuances that are reflected in the Bulletin’s 32nd annual survey of Manteca apartment rents based on complexes built in the past 50 years.

The most expensive apartment in Manteca is a three bedroom, two bathroom floorplan with 1,292 square feet at The Atherton for $2,915.

The complex on Atherton Drive next to Bass pro Shops is where you will find a 545 square foot studio for $1,995.

To put the $1,995 a month rent for a studio into perspective, $1,265 is what a three bedroom, two bathroom unit in the Stonegate complex on Center Street rented for in 2004. Back in 2004, the large Stonegate unit was the priciest in Manteca.

Right behind The Atherton in terms of highest price is a three bedroom two bathroom at the Tidewater Landing on Lathrop Road that opened in 2022. The 1,290-square-foot floor plan rents for $2,850.

For the fourth consecutive year the average rent for all apartments in the Bulletin survey has jumped more than 5 percent.

Average rents have stalled but have never gone down in the 32 years of the survey. Selected floor plans, though, at a handful of complexes have dipped slightly for a year.

The average rent in Manteca has climbed every year since 2010. The 13.75 percent rent hike in 2015 is the highest on record. Since then, rents went up on average 6 percent in 2016, 2.4 percent in 2017, 7.8 percent in 2018, 7.1 percent in 2019, 7.1 percent in 2020, 6 percent in 2021, and 5.1 percent in 2022.

Going back 20 years ago a two bedroom and one bathroom unit at Laurel Glen on Button Avenue rented for $825. Today it rents for $2,225

Two bedroom units

are most affordable

Although it seems counterintuitive, the two bedroom configurations that rent anywhere between $140 and $330 more per month than single bedroom units in the same complex are considered the most affordable.

That’s because a spot check with various complexes as well as data compiled by banks that underwrite construction loans for apartment complexes show the vast majority of those renting the two bedroom floor plans are unrelated and are not in committed relationships.

As such it essentially halves the rent. A solo renter in a one bedroom at Tesoro at Atherton Drive and Van Ryn Avenue for example pays $1,195 a month if they opt not to include a garage while two separate renters splitting the cost of a $2,295 two bedroom, two bathroom unit in the same complex are paying $1,147.50 a month each.

It is why more than half or 222 of the 428 units at The Atherton when it is completed will be two bedroom and two bathroom apartments. That is essentially the market’s answer to affordable renting.

Renters never stabilize

their housing costs

At the depth of the Great Recession triggered by the housing price collapse attributed to liar loans, rents went up while home sale prices tanked.

That’s because those walking away from foreclosed homes had to live somewhere and since they weren’t in a position to buy they rented.

And while there was a time when some houses rented for less than many apartments, rents on apartments never dropped during the Great Recession although rent increases stalled for several years.

Many scoffed at those buying homes in 2008 when home sales started picking up steam. They argued prices hadn’t reached bottom yet and they hadn’t. That wouldn’t occur for two more years.

What happened though was when prices started accelerating and those that dismissed buying a home until prices hit bottom suddenly found themselves competing with not just the return of the Bay Area buyer that all but disappeared during the recession but speculators and even out-of-state investment firms eager to enlarge their home rental portfolio in a rebounding California.

A renter in 2008 paying $820 for a two bedroom, one bedroom bath bought a foreclosed home for $180,000 with 3.5 percent down payment.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com