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It may be no secret that, by and large, Westwood has some of the highest rents in Los Angeles, where property owners can charge according to a seemingly unlimited demand.

But they can’t this year.

This year, Westwood apartment buildings have, on average, an unusually high rate of vacancy. These vacancies are largely attributed to two things -- a weak economy and rental costs beyond the pocket book of the average UCLA student.

“I have not seen so many (rental) signs up since I’ve been here ... the vacancy level is just incredible” said Dannica Kravica, Midvale Plaza’s manager since 1997. “It’s not just this building, it’s all over (Westwood),” she said.

The Westwood apartment market is an unusually fortunate one, in the sense it has a persistent feeder of renters – students and UCLA employees who are willing to pay high prices for close proximity to the university.

But in a slumping economy, it appears Westwood apartment owners are asking prices the weak rental market will not support.

“Balloons only blow up so much before they break,” said Scott Taylor, property manager of Gayley Manor and 1977 UCLA student body president. Taylor said he had heard from many property owners that the market was soft this year, and they couldn’t get the same prices they had last year.

“Prices tend to go up every year. But student budgets don’t necessarily,” Taylor said.

Taylor said most UCLA undergraduates typically only have $500-$600 budgeted per month for rent. Because two-bedroom apartments in the north village typically range from a low of $1,900 to $2,500 or more, most students have to live double or even triple to a room, and, even then, the more expensive apartments are priced beyond affordability.

In an unhealthy economy, it appears more students are unwilling or unable to shell out $600 a month to share a bedroom and are opting for less expensive neighborhoods a mile or two away.

“My roommates didn’t want to pay more than 2,000 a month, so Brentwood was the ideal place,” said Mansour Jammal, a third year biochemistry student.

“I searched in Westwood, and the prices were unbelievable ... so my roommates and I decided to live further down,” said Abby Camaya, a fourth-year communications studies student.

The UCLA Office of Housing Services has also received more advertisements of vacancies on its Web site as compared to last year.

Westwood apartment owners are largely dependent on students for their renters. So, if apartments remain vacant beyond October, they may be unoccupied for the rest of the quarter, or even the year.

“If you are not filled by Oct. 1, then you are going to have vacancies unless you lower prices,” said Tony Mouallem, property manager of the Club California apartments on Levering Avenue.

Mouallem said he believes 15 to 20 percent of apartments in the Village are vacant, and some property owners are lowering rents as much as 30 percent to fill those vacancies.

The last time Westwood had a vacancy problem was during the recession of the early 1990s.