Santa Monica rental rates in 2013 were the highest the city has ever seen, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported.
Only five percent of houses in the city by the sea were affordable for families making 80 percent or less of the area median income compared to 83 percent in 1998.
In 2013, the average market rental rate went up six percent with a 50 percent increase in market-rate tenants.
There are only four units available for those who make 30 percent of the median income compared to 824 units in 1998.
“As housing that is affordable vanishes for new households with moderate incomes, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to find housing they can afford in Santa Monica,” the report stated.
For Santa Monica, new and affordable homes are becoming a rarity with the population decreasing in terms of middle income residents.