The coronavirus pandemic is weakening local landlords’ ability to raise rents.

Rent hikes cooled in 59% of Southern California rental markets in March, according to RentCafe. It found 56 of 95 markets tracked had smaller hikes vs. a year earlier. Overall, regional rents were rising at a 3.2% annual pace last month, the smallest March gain since 2012.

“The data has yet to reflect the full impact of COVID-19,” says analyst Doug Ressler of Yardi Matrix. “We expect the impact of coronavirus to last three to six months before a steady recovery boosts the economy once again.”

SoCal’s median average rent in those communities with shrinking increases was $1,933 vs. $1,819 in towns with rising rent hikes. That suggests a stronger demand for more “affordable” housing.

Landlords are being forced to act as tenants begin losing jobs under government-mandated “stay at home” orders. The state has already received 2.3 million applications for unemployment benefits since the crisis began, triple the number of Californians officially unemployed in February.

The impact has been swift. For example, a survey of landlords controlling 13 million units nationwide found 69% of apartment dwellers paid rent through April 5 vs. 82% a year earlier, says the National Multifamily Housing Council.

And landlords in California have little immediate recourse: State courts have stopped processing eviction actions until further notice.

Burbank had the biggest rent-hike slowdown in the region, according to RentCafe’s data. Its $2,396 average rent in March was up 1.14% in a year. That gain was 9.46 percentage points below the 10.6% hikes of a year ago.

Here are the other Top 10 markets with the biggest decline in rent hikes:

No. 2: Pomona at $1,555 average, down 8.4 points — to a decline of 0.7% from increasing 7.7% in a year.

No. 3: West Hollywood at $2,856 average, down 7.29 points — falling 3.77% vs. gaining 3.52% in a year.

No. 4: Huntington Beach at $2,212 average, down 6.63 points — up 1.98% from 8.61% in a year.

No. 5: Rowland Heights at $1,753 average, down 5.58 points — up 2.51% from 8.09% in a year.

No. 6: Los Angeles at $2,499 average, down 5.41 points — up 0.56% from 5.97% in a year.

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No. 7: Indio at $1,162 average, down 4.89 points — up 5.54% from 10.43% in a year.

No. 8: Mission Viejo at $2,082 average, down 4.44 points — up 0.14% from 4.58% in a year.

No. 9: Thousand Oaks at $2,178 average, down 4.44 points — up 1.54% from 5.98% in a year.

No. 10: Pasadena at $2,532 average, down 4.14 points — up 0.20% from 4.34% in a year.

Where was the biggest rent hikes in the region? Santa Monica, where its $3,929 rents, the highest in SoCal, rose at a 5.36% annual pace in March vs. declining 0.29% a year earlier (so a 5.65 percentage-point jump).

List of 95 cities and their rent trends is below.