The high cost of renting in Southern California has doubled in last 17 years
Share this article: Apartments in the Los Angeles Arts District . Photo by John Schreiber The cost of renting one’s residence in Southern California has doubled in 17 years — a jump practically twice as fast as the overall cost of living, according to the regional Consumer Price Index . Since the turn of the century to July, this measurement of local rents is up 102 percent vs. a gain of 53 percent for the overall CPI for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, the Orange County Register reported Thursday . Nationwide, rent costs rose 72 percent in the same period. This local inflation gap — rental costs vs. the overall basket of goods and services — is growing, according to the Register. It took 19 years for rental costs to double, but overall inflation in the 1981- 2000 period rose by almost as much, up 82 percent. The CPI’s rent index is compiled from a constant survey of households about everyday expenses, including the largest component: housing...