Getty Images California’s Central Coast was one of the nation’s most competitive small rental markets this year, according to apartment search website RentCafe. Fayetteville, Arkansas, led RentCafe’s list of the top 20 Hottest Small Rental Markets in 2022, followed by Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, at No. 2 and Lafayette, Indiana, at No. 3. The Central Coast, which includes Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties, landed at No. 20 on the list, released Dec. 19. To come up with the rankings for its 2022 Year-End Report, RentCafe looked at five key metrics: the number of days rental properties were vacant; what percentage of rentals were occupied; the number of prospective renters competing for a space; The percentage of renters renewed their leases and the share of apartments completed in 2022. Based on those metrics, Rent Cafe calculated a Rental Competitiveness Index (RCI) showing how competitive the rental market was this year. The national RCI score was 59.9 in 2022, the site said. The Central Coast received a rental competitiveness score of 79.9 from RentCafe. According to RentCafe, the amount of properties available for rent in the region grew by just 0.5% this year. Apartment seekers in the Central Coast were mostly young professionals coming from more expensive metropolitan areas, the site said. More than 97% of the apartments that were available for rent remained occupied in 2022, and the units that did become vacant were filled after an average of 29 days, according to the news release. The low vacancy rate can be explained in part by the number of Central Coast renters who have opted to stay in their current apartment. Roughly 55% of Central Coast renters renewed their leases instead of moving to a new apartment or buying a property, according to RentCafe. The low supply and low vacancy contributed to the competitiveness of the Central Coast rental market, RentCafe said, noting that an average of 14 renters competed for each vacant rental property. What are the most competitive small rental markets in United States? The smaller-sized regions had the most competitive rental markets in 2022, according to RentCafe: Fayetteville, ArkansasLehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Lafayette, IndianaAshville, North Carolina Madison, WisconsinTulsa, Oklahoma Providence, Rhode IslandKnoxville, Tennessee North Central Florida Portland, Maine Little Rock, Arkanasas Columbus, Georgia Fort Wayne, Indiana Chattanooga, Tennessee Wichita, Kansas Albany, New York South Bend, Indiana Fayetteville, North Carolina Albuquerque, New Mexico Central Coast, California Read the full report at https://bit.ly/rentalmarket2022. This story was originally published December 22, 2022 12:01 PM. Related stories from San Luis Obispo Tribune Sara Kassabian is a reporter at The San Luis Obispo Tribune, covering the North County and health news. Sara is from the East Bay Area and studied journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. She received a master’s degree in global health at UC San Francisco, and has previously worked in health, science and technology communications. Follow Sara on Twitter @sarakassabian.