Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

blog.zumper.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 41 posts

Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

#11

Post by batbomb »

FreakyT wrote: post #5

It continues to strike me as odd that there isn't more focus on building high-density highrise housing in SF. Is this related to earthquake danger, historical preservation, idiocy on the part of local politicians, or some combination of these?

Established and older residents, especially those without children, see no reason we should be "Manhattanized" so more people can live here. They "like SF just the way it is, thank you". If you don't have kids, and you have rent control, you never really need to upgrade your 1BR apartment once you got it.

Secondly, there is no upzoning, and subsequently no increase in density, without eviction, thanks to the rental market. Evictions aren't popular. The Tenderloin is completely insulated from any of this.

Historical preservation is bogus, but has a history. The reason that some people argue for largely have to do with the projects in the Western Addition, which bulldozed a bunch of victorians to make what most people consider an eyesore.

Local politicians don't really care too much. The reason being is any action they take pissed off established residents, who voted them in. That's changing a bit, as more people feel the pressure of the rental market and evictions. Still, there's more of an attempt to protect people who are established then there is an attempt to accommodate those who actually need housing, especially those in the middle class.

Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

#13

Post by discardorama »

FreakyT wrote: post #5

It continues to strike me as odd that there isn't more focus on building high-density highrise housing in SF. Is this related to earthquake danger, historical preservation, idiocy on the part of local politicians, or some combination of these?

And, to add to what everyone else said: there are out-of-towners who are buying up this newly-built property; either as a place to stash some cash (people from China, Russia), or as a crashpad for when they come in to town (from other parts of Bay Area) for an event or something.

Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

#14

Post by tinbad »

The rent prices in SF (and around) have baffled me ever since I moved here in 2011. Can anyone explain who is supposed to be able to afford $3k+ for a studio?

Me and my gf both work in tech (making well north over 100k each) and between the two of us we barely can afford a 2bedroom apartment for about 3k/mo. I can't imagine living by myself and paying such insane amounts on rent alone. After adding in things like student loan payment, car payment and groceries/living expenses there isn't much left to save or do anything extra? (Don't even get me started on trying to "buy" a place and coming up with a downpayment, which is very different dynamic on by itself)

So, I can only assume that everyone who is able to drop 3-5k on rent alone must be making 200k at least? There can only be that many "Directors of engineering", "Heads of dev"? Clearly I am doing something very wrong here.

Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

#17

Post by 7Figures2Commas »

tinbad wrote: post #14

The rent prices in SF (and around) have baffled me ever since I moved here in 2011. Can anyone explain who is supposed to be able to afford $3k+ for a studio? Me and my gf both work in tech (making well north over 100k each) and between the two of us we barely can afford a 2bedroom apartment for about 3k/mo. I can't imagine living by myself and paying such insane amounts on rent alone. After adding in things like stu…

Tech is always implicated in stories about Bay Area housing and rents, and it does play a role, but too many people forget that the Bay Area has a diverse population and economy. There's a sizable foreign population, and professionals working in industries like finance, law and medicine often make far more than their code-writing peers. For instance, an associate attorney or investment banker with a few years of experience can easily pull in more than $200,000/year.

This said, there are also a lot of young people in tech who earn good money but spend most of it (on rent, eating out, traveling, etc.) believing that the current environment will last forever. If they knew that this wasn't the case, they'd probably be less willing to spend a huge chunk of their take home pay on rent.

Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

#18

Post by dasil003 »

tinbad wrote: post #14

The rent prices in SF (and around) have baffled me ever since I moved here in 2011. Can anyone explain who is supposed to be able to afford $3k+ for a studio? Me and my gf both work in tech (making well north over 100k each) and between the two of us we barely can afford a 2bedroom apartment for about 3k/mo. I can't imagine living by myself and paying such insane amounts on rent alone. After adding in things like stu…

You can pay $3000 for rent on $100k salary, it's not ideal but it won't automatically put you in extreme hardship either, you just have to be frugal somewhere else. Granted $100k is still a high salary, but there are a lot of people making that in SF. Still not enough to fill up the town probably, but then you have rent controlled apartments diminishing the supply, and also poorer people packing 2,3,4,5 salaries into 1,2,3 bedrooms. With lack of new construction and a lot of good jobs it's easy to see how the situation has gotten to the current point.

That's not to say people are living well there—you take a significant lifestyle hit to live in SF compared to the mid-tier American cities even with a 50% pay raise, but it's seen as a desirable place to be so prices just keep getting jacked up.

Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

#19

Post by ryanSrich »

tinbad wrote: post #14

The rent prices in SF (and around) have baffled me ever since I moved here in 2011. Can anyone explain who is supposed to be able to afford $3k+ for a studio? Me and my gf both work in tech (making well north over 100k each) and between the two of us we barely can afford a 2bedroom apartment for about 3k/mo. I can't imagine living by myself and paying such insane amounts on rent alone. After adding in things like stu…

I had an opportunity to take a job in SF directly out of college. I opted to take a job in DC instead, considering the cost of living I'd be making considerably more in DC.

I did have friends that moved to SF and SV to take jobs in tech. A few that worked for twitter lived together in a house in the valley where they each paid around $1.5k each. They then car-pooled into SF (which would take hours on some days).

Others I know are completely broke. They make ~$90k a year and live with several others in very dilapidated apartments.

I will never, ever, understand the draw to living in SF. I've been their and yes it's a lovely city but the cost just makes absolute zero sense. On top of that the pay is really not that much better. I've done extensive research (I've been planning to write up a post about it but just haven't had the time) about wages in the Valley vs. SF vs. other large cities and you're looking at maybe a 10-15% bump, which will in no way cover the difference in the cost of living.

Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014

#20

Post by ryanklee »

sarciszewski wrote: post #7

http://www.miniwebtool.com/doubling-time-calculator/?r=13.5 At this rate, rent will double every 5-6 years.

> At this rate

Be wary of any trend extrapolation. Better to figure out the dynamics underlying changes.

In this case, the rate will change way before rents have the chance to double. Rental markets are cyclical. In simple terms: They go up; they become unattractive to renters; they go back down.

Post reply on HN