SAN DIEGO - A new report shows rent in San Diego will be going up again soon, but a discount could be available for renters who are ready to move over the next few weeks.
Christian Spicer is having a once-unthinkable dilemma. He still can't find someone to rent a remodeled one-bedroom apartment in Bankers Hill.
So Spicer did something renters across San Diego would never expect -- he lowered the price.
He lowered the rent at a time when a new report claims rents in San Diego are continuing to rise, seemingly without a ceiling.
The latest report from the San Diego County Apartment Association says the average rent is now $1,719 a month -- up 14 percent from a year ago.
Spicer said everything changes in December.
"Nobody wants to pay first month's rent, deposit, Christmas, Black Friday, and moving expenses all in the same month," said Spicer, who is with Ascent Property Management.
So he's making the decision easier for properties he manages across San Diego County.
The 600-square-foot Bankers Hill apartment on the market for $1,700 a month normally goes for $2,000.
Spicer recently listed a three-bedroom house in the College Area for $2,900, but he couldn't get a call. After he lowered it by $150, a family snatched it up in a matter of days.
"A lot of people negotiate a little bit," he said.
Spicer told 10News that leverage will disappear as soon as 2017 hits.
"I've already seen activity for January," he said. "And this is earlier than I've seen it in the past few years."
