Two major changes enacted by the governor's executive order on Tuesday, February 4, will have an impact on the housing rental market in Manhattan Beach.

The local rental market has seen extremely high demand as families displaced by the L.A. County wildfires have sought shelter in Manhattan Beach – including a large contingent from Pacific Palisades.

Under the governor's order, one big change now allows market pricing for rentals that have no prior rental history. Previously, under the state of emergency, new rentals were subject to price limits that had proved to be far too low for the Manhattan Beach market.

"The initial regulations were well-intentioned," said Dave Fratello, broker with Edge Real Estate Agency, "But the law calculated maximum prices for some rentals that were simply unrealistic. That kept homes off the market, or forced owners and real estate agents to work outside the law. It was endangering people who were literally trying to help meet the needs of our new neighbors." 

Rental prices are now "de-controlled," in Fratello's phrasing, for homes of 4 bedrooms or larger, in Manhattan Beach, the Palos Verdes area and a number of other higher-priced ZIP codes outlined in the governor's executive order.

Although properties new to the rental market can be priced at whatever the market will bear, properties that have been leased or advertised within the past year remain subject to a maximum 10% increase over prior lease rates.

The other new change in the executive order closes a loophole that could have allowed all rentals to completely avoid the so-called "price gouging" restrictions, by simply having leases that last more than a year. Now, all rentals, regardless of lease length, are subject to applicable price limits.

These changes were first reported on Tuesday by our sister publication, Manhattan Beach Confidential.

To dig down deeper into this issue, read the full blog entry with all of the details at MB Confidential here. For more background on this issue, MB Confidential laid out the problems that price controls were causing in this post.

Manhattan Beach Confidential offers the most detailed resource available for Manhattan Beach real estate data.

For the latest pending/sold reports and massive amounts of additional local real estate data, visit MB Confidential's data page. For an up-to-the-minute scorecard on new listings, new escrows, new closed deals, and new price cuts, visit the Manhattan Beach Confidential Dashboard.

Additionally, for more insights into the market, to inquire about buying or selling properties, or to learn more about off-market inventory, contact MB Confidential author and Edge Real Estate Agency broker Dave Fratello by email, or call (310) 243-6299.