San Diego rental market · Crestmont Realty
Should I keep my San Diego rental?
You have rented the house for years, maybe to the same family. The loan is old, the rent is whatever it drifted to, and every so often you wonder whether holding still makes sense. Here is how to answer that with this year's numbers.
Data as of July 2026 · more than 40 San Diego neighborhoods · updated monthly · current numbers at rentalmarkets.crestmontrealty.com
01 · The market you are holding
What San Diego did over the last twelve months
The county-level story is stability: vacancy tightened through the year, single-family rents ground modestly upward, and well-priced homes lease in three to four weeks. But the county number hides the real story, because neighborhoods are moving in opposite directions:
| Rising markets | 3BR rent | vs. last year |
|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest / Bankers Hill / Mission Hills | $5,232 | +9.6% |
| Point Loma | $5,634 | +9.1% |
| La Jolla / Torrey Pines | $6,470 | +7.6% |
| Ocean Beach | $5,306 | +6.1% |
| Cooling markets | 3BR rent | vs. last year |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Hill | $3,589 | -8.6% |
| National City | $3,160 | -8.3% |
| El Cajon / La Mesa | $3,596 | -3.8% |
3BR single-family medians, July 2026 · Source: Crestmont Realty rental market data
Which list your neighborhood sits on changes the hold decision more than any county average. A house in a +9% submarket is building rent power while you sleep; a house in a -8% submarket may already be priced above what it would re-lease for today, which matters the day your tenant leaves.
02 · The pricing gap
Is your rent still a market rent?
Long tenancies drift. If the same family has renewed for years at small or no increases, the gap between your rent and the market can reach several hundred dollars a month before anyone notices. That gap is not just lost income; it distorts the hold decision, because you are judging the investment on yesterday's revenue. Look up your neighborhood's current median on our data site, compare it to your lease, and run the rest of this page on the market number, not your current one.
03 · Renewal math
The renewal-versus-turnover calculation
Illustrative numbers at a $3,600 market rent: a turnover typically costs one month of vacancy (about $3,600) plus make-ready work (commonly $1,000 to $2,500), call it roughly $5,000, which is 11 to 12 percent of a year of rent. A renewal at a moderate increase keeps that cost at zero. This is why a somewhat-below-market renewal is often still the winning move against a full re-lease, and why the answer flips when the gap gets large. California and San Diego rent-increase rules cap what is possible in many cases, so the market number and the legal ceiling both matter. We run this calculation for owners at every renewal as part of management.
04 · When exiting makes sense
The honest reasons to stop holding
- The capital-gains clock. If you lived in the home 2 of the last 5 years, the federal exclusion (up to $250,000 single / $500,000 married) still applies, and it phases out as rental years accumulate. Owners a few years into renting a former residence are the ones with a real deadline; talk to a tax professional about where your clock stands.
- A capital-expense cliff. Roof, repipe, or systems due within a couple of years that the rent cannot recover.
- Negative carry at a high rate. If you bought or refinanced recently and the payment eats the full rent and more, holding is a bet on appreciation alone.
- A cooling submarket plus an expiring lease. If your area is on the second table and your tenant is leaving anyway, re-leasing into a falling market deserves a harder look than an automatic re-list.
05 · When holding wins
The reasons most long-term owners stay
- A pre-2022 mortgage rate, which no sale proceeds can repurchase today.
- Rent at or near your carry, in a county running 3.4% vacancy.
- A rising submarket doing the appreciation work for you.
- The equity staying in a supply-constrained coastal market you already know.
What your house would rent for today, and how your current rent compares. Free.
Current rents by bedroom and property type, vacancy, and trend for your area, from the data behind this page.
06 · Quick answers
Quick answers
What is the rental vacancy rate in San Diego in 2026?
3.4% countywide as of July 2026, down from 3.7% a year earlier. Well-priced homes are leasing in roughly 20 to 27 days across the county.
Should I sell my San Diego rental property in 2026?
The honest exit reasons are the ones on this page. A capital-gains exclusion clock still running, a capital-expense cliff the rent cannot recover, or negative carry at a high rate. Absent those, a below-market rent is usually a pricing problem to fix, not a reason to sell.
How much could I raise the rent on my San Diego rental?
Start with the gap between your current lease and your neighborhood's July 2026 median, then apply the legal ceiling. California and San Diego rent-increase rules cap what is possible in many cases, so the market number and the legal limit both matter. Current medians for every neighborhood are on our data site.
Rent data: Crestmont Realty San Diego rental market data · July 2026 · updated monthly. Illustrative figures are examples, not advice; consult your tax advisor on exclusions and sale decisions.