Los Angeles rents are continuing to head up. According to a new report from Apartment List, the average price for a two-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles was up 2.1% in the first quarter to $1,740 per month. Rents have been steadily heading up for the last several years, however, the rate of growth slowed late last year. This research shows that rent growth is actually picking back up this year. Los Angeles apartments rental rates now trend above California and the nation.

“The median rent in L.A. dipped slightly from last September through the beginning of this year, but has since started to increase again,” Chris Salviati, housing economist at Apartment List, tells GlobeSt.com. “This trend is typical of seasonality in the rental market—fewer renters move in the fall and winter months, and so prices tend to decline slightly during this off-season, with the biggest increases seen in the late spring and summer months, when rental activity is at its peak.”

Although the growth is picking back up, Salviati says that it is still modest growth. While the supply shortage is the cause for the increase—and the shortage still exists—the growth rate is growing as the result of the steep increase in rent growth over the last several years. “Rents in L.A. are up 2.1% year-over-year, which is a bit ahead of the national average of 1.5%, but still represents relatively modest growth,” he says. “That said, flattening rent growth does not necessarily imply that there isn't a shortage of housing supply in L.A. Rents in L.A. have increased sharply in recent years, so despite the flattening, these elevated levels are indicative of a constrained market.”