Renting in Northridge, Los Angeles: 212 MLS Leases, the Rules Behind Them and When to Start Looking

Written by Antonio Vaziri, Realtor, Epique Realty, DRE #01927866 · Last updated October 2026

A studio guest house behind a 1950s ranch home, a two-bedroom townhome off Reseda Boulevard, a four-bedroom house with a yard. Those three kinds of rentals made up most of what leased through the MLS in Northridge over the past year, and their median rents were $1,650, $3,300 and $4,950 a month.

This page is written for people who are renting here now or plan to. It sorts last year's leases by home type and bedroom count, explains which Los Angeles and California rent rules reach which kinds of buildings, and looks at when leases actually got signed. Further down you will find the projects that will add rentals nearby, the public schools with Northridge addresses, and a short look at what homes sold for, for anyone weighing a purchase instead.

Where this guide draws the line around Northridge

Northridge is a community inside the City of Los Angeles, not its own city. Wikipedia and the Council District 12 office describe it as bordered by Porter Ranch and Granada Hills on the north, North Hills on the east, Van Nuys on the southeast, Lake Balboa and Reseda on the south, and Winnetka and Chatsworth on the west, with the 118 Freeway along the northern edge. It covers roughly 9.5 square miles and is split among three neighborhood councils: Northridge East, Northridge South and Northridge West. Mailing addresses mostly carry ZIP codes 91324 and 91325, and the California State University, Northridge campus has its own, 91330.

Every lease and sale count on this page comes from CRMLS MLS area NR, Northridge, the area code listing agents assign. Some homes with a Northridge mailing address in 91326 sit in the Porter Ranch MLS area instead and are not counted here. That area has its own guide.

Rent by home type, from guest house to five bedrooms

Source: CRMLS Matrix, Residential Lease, MLS area NR, leases with a closing date from October 5, 2025 through October 5, 2026, pulled October 6, 2026. One listing that rented a single room in a house was left out, which leaves 212 leases. The overall median rent was $3,900 a month, and the median listing was leased 35 days after it went on the market.

Northridge MLS leases by type and bedroom count, October 2025 to October 2026
Home type and bedrooms Leases Median rent Lowest to highest Median sq ft Median days to lease
Guest house or ADU, studio 6 $1,650 $1,490 to $1,900 400 28
Guest house or ADU, 1 bedroom 18 $1,998 $1,750 to $2,600 500 36.5
Apartment or plex unit, 1 bedroom 6 $2,000 $1,900 to $2,300 575 26.5
Apartment or plex unit, 2 bedrooms 6 $2,900 $2,200 to $3,300 900 31.5
Condo or townhome, 2 bedrooms 9 $3,300 $2,650 to $4,250 1,390 22
Condo or townhome, 3 bedrooms 20 $3,693 $3,200 to $4,250 1,638 29.5
House, 2 bedrooms 11 $3,200 $2,599 to $4,495 1,000 19
House, 3 bedrooms 56 $3,993 $3,159 to $8,500 1,458 31.5
House, 4 bedrooms 55 $4,950 $3,250 to $8,000 2,100 39
House, 5 or more bedrooms 12 $6,000 $4,995 to $7,250 2,630 49.5

Rows with fewer than three leases are left out of the table but counted in the totals: two apartment studios, three larger apartment units, three four-bedroom townhomes, one two-bedroom guest unit and three units with no property subtype entered. "Guest house or ADU" means a detached listing of one bedroom or less, or 750 square feet or less. Medians are rounded to the nearest dollar.

What the table says about the Northridge rental supply

Houses dominate. Of the 212 leases, 134 were full houses with two or more bedrooms, at a median of $4,425 a month, and the median house was built in 1961. Condominiums and townhomes added 32 more at a median of $3,650. The next largest group was the guest houses and accessory dwelling units, 25 leases at a median of $1,950, and 18 of those 25 were built in 2017 or later. Newer backyard units now make up a visible share of what reaches the MLS here, more than conventional apartments do.

That last point matters if you are shopping for an apartment. Only 18 leases were apartment or plex units, and the median one was built in 2023. The MLS captures only part of the apartment market, because many apartment owners and management companies advertise their vacancies on their own. If an apartment is what you want, check building websites and leasing offices along Reseda Boulevard, Roscoe Boulevard and Parthenia Street in addition to watching the MLS.

Price spread inside a single category was wide. A three-bedroom house leased for anywhere from $3,159 to $8,500, which usually reflects size, condition, a pool or a recent remodel more than location within Northridge.

Is there a season for Northridge leases?

With a university of nearly 37,000 students in the middle of the community, many people assume every lease turns over in August. The MLS record does not show that. Here is how many of the 212 leases closed in each month.

Northridge MLS leases by closing month (October 2025 and October 2026 are partial months)
Month Leases Month Leases
October 2025 (from the 5th) 7 April 2026 20
November 2025 16 May 2026 22
December 2025 15 June 2026 21
January 2026 20 July 2026 18
February 2026 15 August 2026 16
March 2026 26 September 2026 9
October 2026 (through the 5th) 7

March was the busiest month and the stretch from January through June was steady. August was ordinary, and September was the slowest full month. The CSUN calendar still deserves a place in your planning, because many off-MLS apartments do follow it: fall 2026 weekday classes began August 24, the term ends December 18, and spring 2027 classes begin January 20, 2027. If you are looking at buildings close to campus, starting your search in late spring or in early December gives you the most choice.

Most leases ran a year. Of the 212, 182 listed a 12-month term as an option, 18 offered 24 months, and only a handful mentioned six months or month to month.

Which rent rules reach your building

Because Northridge is in the City of Los Angeles, a renter here can be covered by city rules, state rules or both. The building type and the year it was built decide which. This is general information, not legal advice. The Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) answers questions at its public counters and online, and a tenant attorney or LAHD should confirm how any rule applies to your unit.

Older apartments, condos and duplexes: the Rent Stabilization Ordinance

LAHD says the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) generally covers rental units in buildings with a certificate of occupancy dated on or before October 1, 1978. That includes apartments, condominiums, townhomes and duplexes, and it includes two or more houses on the same lot. For the year from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, LAHD's bulletin sets the allowable increase for RSO units at 3 percent, and since February 2, 2026 landlords may no longer add extra percentages for paying a tenant's gas or electric service.

A house alone on its lot, or newer buildings: just cause and the state cap

A single-family house that is the only home on its parcel is generally exempt from the RSO, and so are most buildings finished after October 1, 1978. Many of those homes still fall under the city's Just Cause Ordinance, which LAHD says protects a tenant after the first lease term ends or after six months, whichever comes first. The Just Cause Ordinance does not limit rent. Rent limits for covered non-RSO units come from the state Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482); the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs lists the cap for the Los Angeles area at 8.7 percent for August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027. Some homes, such as certain houses owned by individuals who gave the required notice, are exempt from the state cap.

Rules that apply to nearly every lease

Deposits. Under AB 12, in effect since July 1, 2024, most landlords may collect a security deposit of no more than one month's rent. A small landlord who meets the law's definition may collect up to two months.

Appliances. AB 628 requires a working stove and refrigerator in leases signed, renewed or extended on or after January 1, 2026. A tenant can agree in writing to supply their own refrigerator.

Unpaid rent. Since March 27, 2023, a Los Angeles landlord cannot evict for nonpayment unless the amount owed is more than one month of fair market rent for that unit size. LAHD publishes the current figures in its required renter protections notice.

Credit for paying on time. AB 2747 requires owners of buildings with 15 or more units to offer tenants the option of having on-time rent reported to a credit bureau, for no more than $10 a month or the actual cost if lower.

The 1994 earthquake and the soft-story question

Northridge gave its name to the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck at 4:30 in the morning on January 17, 1994, with an epicenter about a mile south-southwest of the community, according to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center. At the Northridge Meadows apartments, 9565 Reseda Boulevard, the upper floors came down onto a ground floor that held a parking garage with far fewer walls than the stories above it, and 16 people died there, according to a Fire Engineering account of the rescue. That kind of failure led Los Angeles to adopt its mandatory soft-story retrofit program, which applies to wood-frame buildings of two or more stories built before 1978 with parking or other open space on the ground floor. Buildings with three or fewer units are exempt.

Before you sign at an older building with tuck-under parking, look the address up on the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety soft-story program page to see whether a retrofit order exists and whether the work has been signed off. If construction is still ahead, ask the manager how the work will affect parking and quiet hours. LAHD also allows owners to pass part of the retrofit cost through to RSO tenants under set limits, so ask whether any such charge is already approved.

Getting around and running errands

The Northridge Metrolink station at 8775 Wilbur Avenue is on the Ventura County Line, with trains toward Chatsworth and Ventura County to the west and Burbank and Union Station to the east. Metro's North San Fernando Valley transit project, listed by Metro as under construction, adds bus lanes on Roscoe Boulevard, new shelters and more frequent service on Nordhoff Street, Reseda Boulevard and Roscoe.

For shopping, Northridge Fashion Center at 9301 Tampa Avenue covers about 1.4 million square feet. A Trader Joe's opened at 9224 Reseda Boulevard in 2025. Northridge Hospital Medical Center, a Dignity Health hospital with a trauma center, is at 18300 Roscoe Boulevard. Public green space includes Dearborn Park on Nordhoff Street, Vanalden Park on Vanalden Avenue and the Northridge Recreation Center at 18300 Lemarsh Street.

New rentals and other changes on the way

Several of the largest projects in the pipeline are rental buildings, which could widen the choice for renters over the next few years. Each status below is as reported on the date shown.

  • Proposed18444 Plummer Street. Six stories and 200 affordable apartments of one to three bedrooms for households earning 30 to 80 percent of area median income, on the site of a closed Rite Aid at Reseda Boulevard. The developer's projected construction window is February 2027 to April 2029. Urbanize LA, September 29, 2026.
  • Approved17829 Halsted Street. A five-story building with 232 low- and moderate-income apartments plus a manager's unit, east of the CSUN campus. Approved by the City Planning Commission on April 24, 2025. Urbanize LA, April 28, 2025.
  • Approved9450 Shirley Avenue. About 350 apartments on a parking lot beside Northridge Fashion Center. Trammell Crow Residential bought the entitled site in 2024 and projected construction from early 2025 to 2027; a start of construction could not be confirmed for this guide. Trammell Crow Company, June 18, 2024.
  • Approved18419 Gresham Street. A four-story addition of 16 apartments, five of them for very low-income households, beside an existing 25-unit building. Urbanize LA, September 30, 2025.
  • Proposed17719 Kinzie Street. A five-story building with 230 affordable apartments. No newer report was found after Urbanize LA's December 20, 2024 article.
  • Proposed17545 Parthenia Street. Sixteen two-story townhomes with three bedrooms and two-car garages each, filed under SB 1123. Urbanize LA, May 17, 2026.
  • Proposed18220 Superior Street. Six small-lot homes, each with an attached junior ADU. Urbanize LA, August 2, 2026.
  • OpenJoshua Tree Hall and Hibiscus Hall at CSUN. Two four-story residence halls with 198 beds at Lassen Street and Zelzah Avenue, adding to roughly 3,156 existing campus beds. Urbanize LA, August 29, 2025.
  • Under constructionCSUN Matador Success and Inclusion Center. A 48,190-square-foot campus building expected in the 2027-28 academic year. CSUN Magazine, spring 2026.
  • Under constructionNorth San Fernando Valley transit corridor. Bus lanes on Roscoe Boulevard during peak hours, about 400 shelters and signal priority; Metro estimates completion in 2026. Metro project page, accessed October 6, 2026.
  • PlannedToys R Us at Northridge Fashion Center. A second-level store announced for fall 2026, with no exact date given. Patch, September 2, 2026.
  • OpenTrader Joe's, 9224 Reseda Boulevard. Opened in July 2025 with murals painted by CSUN students. CSUN Newsroom, July 21, 2025.
  • ClosedRite Aid, Plummer Street and Reseda Boulevard. Closed; the site is the one proposed for the 200 apartments above. Urbanize LA, September 29, 2026.

Anything not yet open can still be redesigned, delayed or dropped. Read these as plans on file, not as a schedule.

Public schools with a Northridge 91324 or 91325 address

All thirteen schools below are part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and each is listed as active in the California Department of Education School Directory, checked October 6, 2026. Each name links to the school's page on the California School Dashboard (the 2025 edition; the state plans to release the 2026 Dashboard on October 15, 2026).

A few other schools use a Northridge mailing address with ZIP code 91326 and are not listed here. The school a given home is assigned to depends on its exact address, not on the ZIP code, and charter and magnet schools run their own admissions. Enter the address in the LAUSD Resident School Identifier and confirm with the school before you sign a lease.

See what is for rent or for sale in Northridge today

On October 6, 2026, the MLS showed 40 active rentals in area NR. Both buttons open live searches on this site filtered to listings whose MLS city is Northridge.

Northridge homes for rent Northridge homes for sale

To hear about new rentals first, open the rental search, narrow it to your bedroom count and budget, and press Save Search.

If renting turns into buying: last year's Northridge sales

Some renters here run the numbers on owning, so the sales side is summarized below. Source: CRMLS Matrix, Residential, MLS area NR, sales closed October 7, 2025 through October 5, 2026, pulled October 6, 2026.

Northridge closed sales by property type, October 2025 to October 2026
Property type Sales Median price Lowest to highest Median sq ft Median price per sq ft Median days on market
Houses 293 $1,087,000 $607,000 to $4,625,000 2,038 $538 29
Condos and townhomes 77 $620,000 $340,000 to $940,000 1,458 $419 48
Income property (triplex) 1 $1,850,000 One sale 4,275 $433 5

By bedroom count, three-bedroom houses had a median of $915,000 across 110 sales, four-bedroom houses $1,140,000 across 122, and houses with five or more bedrooms $1,390,000 across 54. Among condos and townhomes, two-bedroom units sold at a median of $605,475 and units with three or more bedrooms at $640,000. On October 6, 2026, 86 homes were listed for sale in area NR, with another 36 under contract or pending.

A three-bedroom house that rents for about $3,990 a month and a three-bedroom house that sells for about $915,000 are not always the same kind of house, so treat any rent-versus-buy comparison built on medians as a starting point. A lender can turn a specific price into a monthly payment with taxes and insurance included.

I have helped clients buy here myself. On Blythe Street in 91325 I represented a buyer in 2018 and then listed and sold that same home for the client in 2020, and in 2021 I represented a buyer on Sophie Court, a group of homes built that year. If you are renting in Northridge now and want to know what it would take to own nearby, call or text me at 818-381-9977.

Own a Northridge home you might rent out or sell?

Owners use this page too. If you are deciding between leasing your home and selling it, the lease medians above and the sales table give you a first read. For a number built from the closest recent sales and leases to your own address, request a home value report.

For more on the community, see Northridge homes for sale and the full list of neighborhood guides, including the neighboring Porter Ranch, Knollwood in Granada Hills, Chatsworth and Lake Balboa guides.

Where each Northridge figure was found

The information on this page was compiled from public MLS records and other public sources and is current only as of October 2026. It is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed, and it is not a representation or warranty of any kind. Rents, prices, rent control rules, taxes, special assessments, hazard zones, insurance availability and community conditions change over time and can change without notice. Do not rely on this page for any purchase, sale, lease or financing decision; verify everything that matters to you through your own inspections, the lease or escrow disclosure package, the preliminary title report, the county tax records, the Los Angeles Housing Department and your lender. Nothing here is legal, tax, financial, insurance or lending advice. All real estate advertised is subject to the federal Fair Housing Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act; we do not discriminate and do not support discrimination against any protected class.

Antonio Vaziri, Realtor · Epique Realty · DRE #01927866 · buyandsellcaliforniahomes.com