The central measured split in 90012 is that June 2026 Zillow ZORI reached $2,513, up 0.5% from a year earlier, while the direct ZIP resale signal was softer: Redfin's median sold price was $538,378, down 11.7% year over year, with 12.5 months of supply. Those observations describe different markets, but together they make a single rent snapshot less self-explanatory. The rent index showed a slight recent increase, whereas the for-sale market showed price retreat and substantial listed supply. Neither result establishes a cause, a future path, or the economics of any individual property.
The backward-looking Zillow history is mixed rather than uniformly rising. The one-year exact same-month annualized rent change was positive at 0.5%, breaking from the three-year change of negative 0.5%; the five-year same-month annualized change remained positive at 2.1%. Thus, the recent direction partially reconnects with the longer five-year path but has not erased the intervening three-year decline. Annualized monthly-return variability of 2.9% calls for moderate caution in treating the current index as a precise stable point. Separately, the maximum drawdown was 9.6%, showing that a meaningful retreat occurred within the observed history. Coverage was 100% across 106 monthly observations. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 2,359 for momentum, 1,365 for stability, and 2,262 for the balanced measure, where lower ranks place higher; these are descriptive discovery tools, not forecasts or performance recommendations.
Source definitions explain why the rent figures should not be collapsed into one benchmark. Zillow ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. In contrast, the matched Census ZCTA's ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent was $2,116, making ZORI 18.8% higher; ACS is a survey of occupied renter homes and median gross rent includes selected utilities. The five-digit label is both Zillow's ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. HUD's two-bedroom $3,070 Fair Market Rent or Small Area Fair Market Rent standard is administrative and bedroom-specific, not asking rent; the ZIP ZORI equals 81.9% of that standard, a comparison across unlike measures rather than a rent comp.
The bedroom view is deliberately modelled, not a measured set of bedroom rents. Scaling the ZIP ZORI through the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,949 for a studio, $2,077 for one bedroom, $2,513 for two bedrooms, $3,305 for three bedrooms, and $3,825 for four bedrooms. The two-bedroom estimate equals the blended ZORI because it is the ladder's reference point, not because every observed two-bedroom asks that amount. HUD FMR or SAFMR supplies the relative bedroom spacing, while Zillow supplies the ZIP-level starting value. Readers should therefore use this ladder to frame bedroom-size differences, not to infer an observed asking-rent distribution, a lease offer, or a precise rent for a particular unit.
At the current ZORI, the arithmetic 30% required-income screen is $100,520 annually, compared with ACS median household income of $66,860. Annualizing the current asking-rent index against that median income produces a 45.1% screen, while 54.3% of ACS renter households were reported as spending at least 30% of income on rent. These measures indicate broad affordability pressure in their respective universes, but they do not describe a particular household's income, utility payment, subsidy, roommate arrangement, lease, or eligibility. The 30% calculation is arithmetic only: it is not advice, an applicant qualification rule, or evidence that a renter can or cannot afford a specific apartment.
The matched ZCTA recorded 16,878 housing units, a 7.4% vacancy rate, and a 92.5% renter share among occupied homes. Large multifamily structures accounted for 12,718 units, and 911 vacant units were classified as for rent. This stock profile helps explain why renter-focused measures are central to the area-level reading, but it does not reveal unit condition, turnover, asking concessions, or which vacant homes were practically available when observed. Vacancy is a Census stock-status measure, not proof that a particular building has an open apartment. Likewise, the burden share is population evidence rather than a conclusion about any one lease or resident.
For wider geographic context only, the Los Angeles city context rent was $2,773, the Los Angeles County context rent was $2,808, and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro context rent was $2,927; each exceeds the ZIP's Zillow asking-rent index. The metro context rent-to-income screen was 36.6%, below the ZIP's 45.1% arithmetic screen. City, county, and metro figures are broader-geography context rather than substitutes for direct ZIP evidence, and they cannot establish conditions in 90012. The lower ZIP rent level alongside the higher ZIP income screen is consistent with the supplied income comparison, but should not be read as a causal explanation for rent, demand, or household decisions.
Redfin provides direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale evidence, not rental transactions. It reported 19 homes sold, 92 median days on market, 120 active listings, and 76 homes of inventory; its sale-to-list signals were a 98.4% average sale-to-list ratio, a 22.2% sold-above-list share, and a 6.6% share going off market within two weeks. Those resale liquidity signals, together with the sold-price decline and supply level, challenge a simple reading of the modest current rent increase as uniformly firm market evidence. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by Redfin median sold price is a 5.6% cross-source screening ratio only, not a measure of property economics. Property-level review would need contemporaneous comparable asking rents, bedroom count, included utilities, lease terms, concessions, condition, listing dates, and actual sale details before drawing a unit-specific conclusion. Which of those checks is most likely to change the interpretation of the current snapshot?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow's ZIP asking-rent index was $2,513 in June 2026 and rose 0.5% over one year, but the three-year rent history remained negative. Meanwhile, Redfin's direct ZIP resale evidence showed an 11.7% annual median sold-price decline and 12.5 months of supply. The data do not establish a relationship between the two markets, but the contrast makes it important not to treat the latest rent movement as a complete market verdict.","title":"Recent rent stabilization conflicts with a weaker resale backdrop"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom estimates apply local HUD bedroom relationships to blended ZIP ZORI. They are useful for a consistent size ladder, ranging from $1,949 for a studio to $3,825 for four bedrooms, but they are not a sample of measured listings. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative standard and Zillow ZORI is a typical asking-rent index, so neither figure alone describes an individual lease.","title":"Bedroom figures are a HUD-scaled model, not observed unit rents"},{"body":"The arithmetic income screen for paying the current ZORI at 30% of income is $100,520, versus ACS median household income of $66,860. ACS also reports that 54.3% of renter households spend at least 30% of income on rent. These are population-level indicators from different calculations and survey measures; they do not determine affordability, qualification, or burden for a particular household or apartment.","title":"Area-level affordability indicators are strained"},{"body":"The matched Census ZCTA has a 92.5% renter share among occupied homes, with 12,718 units in large multifamily structures. Its 7.4% vacancy rate and 911 units classified as vacant for rent provide stock context, not real-time availability evidence. These figures support a renter-focused area reading but cannot identify current concessions, building quality, vacancy duration, or the terms available at any specific property.","title":"The housing base is strongly renter-oriented"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI is a blended typical asking-rent index across rental types, so it can move differently from asking rents for a specific bedroom count, building type, lease term, or utility package.","ACS figures come from a five-year survey of occupied renter homes in a ZCTA, include selected utilities in gross rent, and should not be treated as a current listing feed or USPS ZIP measure.","The bedroom estimates inherit HUD's administrative ladder rather than observed local bedroom-rent samples, creating model risk whenever actual unit mix, amenities, utilities, or concessions differ from the ladder assumptions.","Redfin's rolling-three-month resale data cover only 19 sold homes and describe for-sale transactions; listed supply, marketing time, and sale-to-list results cannot be used as rental transaction evidence."],"qa":[{"a":"The measures cover different universes. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed ZIP asking-rent index blended across rental types, while ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey statistic for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. The ZCTA is also a statistical geography, not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. A difference between the figures therefore does not by itself signal an error or a market change.","q":"Why is Zillow ZORI higher than ACS median gross rent here?"},{"a":"No. They are modelled monthly estimates produced by scaling the ZIP Zillow index through the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD FMR or SAFMR provides bedroom-specific administrative standards, while Zillow provides the blended ZIP asking-rent starting point. The resulting figures do not measure advertised rents, signed leases, unit quality, included utilities, or concession-adjusted prices for individual studios or apartments.","q":"Are the bedroom estimates actual observed rents for 90012?"},{"a":"It is a straightforward arithmetic screen: annualized current Zillow ZORI divided by 30%. It helps compare the current asking-rent index with the supplied area median household income and ACS rent-burden evidence. It is not financial advice, an affordability determination, an applicant-screening requirement, or proof that a particular renter household can or cannot qualify for a particular apartment.","q":"What does the 30% required-income figure mean?"},{"a":"The ratio divides annualized ZIP Zillow ZORI by Redfin's direct ZIP median sold price, so it is only a cross-source screening comparison. It excludes operating expenses, taxes, insurance, maintenance, financing, vacancy experience, property condition, and lease details. Because Redfin is measuring rolling-three-month resale activity rather than rentals, the ratio cannot describe actual property-level economics or outcomes.","q":"How should the Redfin screening ratio be used?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 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