City of Alameda, CA Rent Study

City of Alameda, CA

The City of Alameda engaged BAE Urban Economics to conduct a rent study to describe Alameda’s renter households, rental market trends, the affordability of rental housing for Alameda residents, as well as to assess a set of policy options.

The purpose of the study was to inform City efforts to address growing concern among local elected officials, residents, and business owners that Alameda’s strong rental housing market recovery after the Great Recession had led to rapidly rising rents that were impacting long-time Alameda residents.)

In addition, the study informed the City Council’s consideration of various potential rent control options, including modifications to the City’s existing rent mediation board. BAE conducted an in-depth analysis of data from the US Census, including Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy data, in addition to data from private data vendors.

Among other findings, the study confirmed that Alameda has extremely low rental vacancy rates and increasingly high residential rental rates that are unaffordable to many of Alameda’s low- and middle-income households, and that recent increases in rents have surpassed increases in renter household incomes.

The findings that BAE presented in the rent study helped to support changes to the City’s rental housing policies. Subsequent to the publication of the study, the City Council adopted an ordinance to strengthen the City’s Rent Review Advisory Committee process, which provides landlord-tenant mediation related to rent increases, and instituted eviction protections for renter households in Alameda.