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San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

bloomberg.com

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Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#151

Post by boulos »

seibelj wrote: post #3

The free market wins again - supply and demand uber alles. If we can't build tons of new apartments, then 1/3 the city fleeing for the suburbs does the trick too!

Actually, while many units were built, they were almost all in tall buildings in Soma. Many of those are occupied by renters, and approximately everyone wanted out (100 unit building with a pair of elevators isn’t a covid friendly plan).

Like jeffbee says below: if you take just a little supply or demand out of the system, it can massively swing. As an example, in addition to the flight of many renters, single-family homes are up year over year.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#152

Post by alextheparrot »

packetlost wrote: post #94
standardUser wrote: post #21

A good start, let's hope it continues. Rents are still roughly double what they were 15 years ago, when decent studios in central neighborhoods went for under $1000/mo.

I live in freaking Madison, WI and you can't find a studio for under $1000, there's no way you're going to find that in SF.

Is that just downtown by the capital where the high rise apartments are? Or has the market shifted that severely since I graduated school in 2016?

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#153

Post by baby »

prpl wrote: post #60

I bought a house in the east bay, walking distance to a BART station. We contemplated “cashing in” on a rent controlled 2 or 3 BR apartment but prices on those haven’t dropped quite as much, and we still wouldn’t likely have a yard. We have 3 kids and we were in a rent controlled 2BR in the Richmond district, but we had no w/d and the landlord was increasingly hostile. At the end of the day my mortgage is $4200/mo wh…

W/d?

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#154

Post by notherthrowaway »

I think people are asking the wrong questions. We know that people moving back in with their parents is up about 3 million due to COVID [1]. It would follow that studio apartments are the mostly likely to be rented by those same young people, thus the demand has dried up.

The question we aren't asking is, what happens when the economy recovers and these people move out of their parent's homes? Will they go back to the "destination" cities or will newer, smaller cities be the target? Will they crave experiences or space more?

[1] https://www.marketplace.org/2020/07/28/millions-of-americans...

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#155

Post by baby »

boulos wrote: post #151
seibelj wrote: post #3

The free market wins again - supply and demand uber alles. If we can't build tons of new apartments, then 1/3 the city fleeing for the suburbs does the trick too!

Actually, while many units were built, they were almost all in tall buildings in Soma. Many of those are occupied by renters, and approximately everyone wanted out (100 unit building with a pair of elevators isn’t a covid friendly plan). Like jeffbee says below: if you take just a little supply or demand out of the system, it can massively swing. As an example, in addition to the flight of many renters, single-family…

These were still insanely expensive.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#156

Post by AtlasBarfed »

DivisionSol wrote: post #147

Absolutely anecdotal to a single apartment building, but I check the listed prices for units inside my building in Redwood City. My particular unit-type, on another floor, has fallen ~$700... I was a fool for renewing the lease.

Since you are right in the middle of this, what prevents you from walking out on the lease? As in, what starts a flood of renegotiation / changing apartments from similarly lease-locked renters?

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#157

Post by sumtechguy »

plorkyeran wrote: post #98
joosters wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes no sense. Rent controls don't specify a minimum rent, all your reasons apply equally to rent controlled and uncontrolled rentals.

Rent control means that renting at a low price this year means you're also renting it at a low price next year. Without rent control you could give a discount this year and then jack the rate back up to normal next year.

Also not all property management is about renting out. Sometimes it is just about parking wealth and extra rent is gravy. So if you are just parking, moving to the max rent possible can be a desirable effect. As you may price people out and you do not have to have someone to 'manage' that property as intensively (broke AC, leaky sink fix, etc). Which would be an annoyance on a passive property.

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#158

Post by sincerely »

baby wrote: post #153
prpl wrote: post #60

I bought a house in the east bay, walking distance to a BART station. We contemplated “cashing in” on a rent controlled 2 or 3 BR apartment but prices on those haven’t dropped quite as much, and we still wouldn’t likely have a yard. We have 3 kids and we were in a rent controlled 2BR in the Richmond district, but we had no w/d and the landlord was increasingly hostile. At the end of the day my mortgage is $4200/mo wh…

W/d?

Washer/dryer

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#159

Post by bgorman »

joshgachnang wrote: post #95
burlesona wrote: post #51

I would say the city being “closed” is the major driver. Among my group of ~40 coworkers, about 30 (including me) have left the city. As far as I know all but one were renting. Everyone who left gave the following rationale: - we can work remotely so move wherever or nomad now - SF is not very fun during the pandemic - WFH in my tiny apartment is much less enjoyable than when I was working in the office and didn’t sp…

The WFH is a huge part. Just moved from a tiny 1 bed near downtown LA to a 3 bed place in Chicago with lower rent. My girlfriend and I both get our own offices, we have a yard, and enough places that are half open nearby that we're pretty happy.

Please report back in February after experiencing a -40 day :)

Re: San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

#160

Post by burlesona »

PascLeRasc wrote: post #90
burlesona wrote: post #51

I would say the city being “closed” is the major driver. Among my group of ~40 coworkers, about 30 (including me) have left the city. As far as I know all but one were renting. Everyone who left gave the following rationale: - we can work remotely so move wherever or nomad now - SF is not very fun during the pandemic - WFH in my tiny apartment is much less enjoyable than when I was working in the office and didn’t sp…

Compared to other big tech-hub cities, I'd think SF would be one of the better ones to spend the pandemic in. There's great parks like Dolores, Lands End, etc, and they'll still be comfortable to be in during this winter. Is there more to it than that?

SF is indeed a nice city and better than many in terms of parks and outdoor amenities. However, the space at home, when you WFH, is pretty rough.

If you take what a typical couple pays for SF rent you can buy two houses in most of the US. So... if you're going to be spending a lot of time at home, for many people it makes sense to move out to a cheaper and more spacious locale, at least for now.

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