Every January we publish what we're seeing across the 340 properties Driftwood manages — actual rents collected, actual days-on-market, actual renewal rates. Here's the early-2026 read.
Encinitas
Encinitas rents are flat year-over-year. Our 142 Encinitas homes saw 2.4% rent growth in 2025, down from 4.1% in 2024. Days on market median: 9 days (vs. 7 in 2024). Tenant tenure median: 3.6 years.
Driver: New multifamily completion in Old Encinitas (the Pacific Station and Lumberyard 2 projects) added supply for the first time in years.
Cardiff-by-the-Sea
Cardiff continues to outperform — flat-out, the strongest North County coastal market by every metric we track. 2025 rent growth across our 68 Cardiff properties: 4.8%. Days on market median: 5 days. Tenant tenure median: 5.2 years.
Cardiff's tight geography (the bluff between San Elijo Avenue and Coast Highway is a finite quantity) means supply almost never catches up with demand at the bluff-top tier.
Carlsbad
Carlsbad rents grew 3.1% across our 58-property portfolio. Carlsbad Village is the strongest sub-market, with new-build mixed-use completion adding pedestrian energy without flooding rental supply.
Solana Beach
Solana Beach Pacific Avenue oceanfront condos saw 5.2% rent growth in 2025 — the strongest condo segment we manage. Lomas Santa Fe family homes were flat. Coaster proximity continues to attract long-term tenants.
Del Mar
Del Mar is its own market. Twelve properties, all leased, all renewing. 2025 rent growth: 1.8% (Del Mar owners traditionally prioritize stability over yield).
La Jolla
La Jolla Village condos saw 3.8% rent growth. Bird Rock family homes saw 4.4% rent growth — the same Bird-Rock-to-Cardiff dynamic that's reshaping coastal North County family-home pricing.
What we're advising owners
For Encinitas owners: hold rent flat at renewal. The market won't support significant increases this year.
For Cardiff and Bird Rock owners: small increases (3-4%) are appropriate at renewal — the market will support it without driving turnover.
For Carlsbad and Solana Beach: let the market decide. Vacancy-tested re-listings are signaling 3-5% increases over expiring leases.
Questions about your own property? Get a free written rent analysis. We respond within one business day.
A spring checklist
March is when the marine layer thins and the first long sun stretches show up. It's also when half the salt damage from the previous winter finally makes itself known. Here's what to look at, in order of how much it'll cost if you don't.
The roof first. Walk the perimeter with a phone camera and photograph anything that's lifted, cracked, or stained. We'll come look — usually within a week — and give you a no-pressure estimate.
Then the windows. Salt and grit eat the seals on west-facing units faster than anything else. If you can hear a whistle from inside on a windy afternoon, the seal is gone.
Finally, fixtures. Anything brass, copper, or zinc — door hardware, faucet bodies, light housings — should get a quick wipe with a damp cloth and a once-over for green corrosion. The fix is usually a $40 part and twenty minutes.
— Mira Castell