The most competitive markets this year share characteristics such as relative affordability and “supply that trails demand,” according to Zillow. Taking the top spot in the ranking is Buffalo, New York, followed by Indianapolis and Providence, Rhode Island.

Within the week since Los Angeles’s worst-ever disaster began, rent gouging has become a crisis on top of the crisis. It’s against the law to increase a rental price by more than 10 percent once a state of emergency has been declared;

Because California is in a state of emergency, laws targeting price-gouging, including a ban on landlords raising rents by more than 10 percent of pre-emergency levels, should be in effect. But that hasn't deterred some landlords from apparently raising their rents by far more than that,

About 1,600 policies for Pacific Palisades homeowners were dropped by State Farm in July, the state insurance office says.

Tenant advocacy groups, landlord associations and elected officials are condemning rent gouging after tens of thousands of people were displaced in deadly fires this month.

Landlords and real estate agencies are jacking up the rent on houses as demand outstrips supply in fire-torn LA.

The ongoing disaster will affect residents’ health, local industries, public budgets and the cost of housing for years to come.

How the study came about: The Rent Brigade is a new independent collective made up of tenant advocates, web programmers, housing researchers and ordinary Angelenos who say they naturally gravitated toward working together after posts about alleged rent gouging flooded social media in the days after the fires.

Rent prices across the Los Angeles region have skyrocketed just as thousands of people are scrambling to find lodging after the wildfires. The Washington Post, for example, analyzed listings via RentCast and found that rent has increased 20% overall in Los Angeles County since the fires began.

As wildfires leave residents displaced across the city, some landlords are raising rents beyond legal limits, forcing evacuees into an increasingly unforgiving housing market.

The 1950s single-story house was unharmed by the recent wildfires.

A Spanish-style home in Long Beach, a Mediterranean-style house in San Leandro and a Craftsman bungalow in Los Angeles.