My rent increased by 9% last year. This year it is increased by another 9%.
Your rent will double every 7-8 years if it keeps increasing that fast.
> if it keeps increasing that fast
Any reason you can give that it would?
San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
21–30 of 41 posts
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#22The 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 live in SF and I work in tech. I make north of 100k and my rent is 2k. Your situation seems bizarre to me.
If you and your girlfriend make north of 100k, then you're pulling in cumulatively 13k-15k/mo after taxes. At $3k/mo your rent is below the commonly cited You really are doing something wrong. I don't know if you're griping in vain, but you and your girlfriend should review your lifestyle and make some changes.
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#23Austin isn't much better. We have a 9% jump in the last 6 months. http://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-austin-rent-trends... http://kxan.com/2014/08/01/austin-hottest-real-estate-market... While these seem like peanuts for Coaster's, its having a pretty huge effect on long time residents. We're undergoing a building boom that feels insane.
An actual building boom offers better hope that at some nearer point, the rent increases will pause and reverse.
You'd think so, but the last 3 years have not brought relief...I'm not complaining about housing prices - I've owned for a while, but I feel for my renting friends.
Traffic on the other hand...that's something to complain about
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#24Rent and housing prices are based on supply and demand. Lots of people want to be in SF. SF housing is not meeting the demand - thus your increase in price. Meaning more building are not being erected to support the demand. The prices will continue to go up bc SF is highly regulated. Regulated in creating new building and regulated with "historical" building that can never be torn down to create bigger and better accommodations - enjoy.
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#25It 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.
Not sure why parent is being downvoted. I personally know several rich (corrupt?) people from China who have bought or are actively shopping for homes here in the SF bay area. They still work & live in China, but from what they've told me, their goal is to
1) Buy a house for their kids studying in the US; 2) Launder their money; 3) Own a property outside of China as an investment; 4) Have a safe house in case they need to flee the country.
The bay area is a popular choice for such people due to the high concentration of Chinese immigrants / Chinese Americans already living here.
I'm not passing judgement, just presenting facts from personal experience.
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#26The 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…
To live in the city, you really need a household income of $300K+. Anyone below that is either going across the Bay Bridge or south into the peninsula.
Based on your pricing, you're best off heading to the East Bay and commuting in via BART. The peninsula may be a better option but you won't get much relief from the rents and everything is car-based and a bit sleepier for young people.
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#27Austin isn't much better. We have a 9% jump in the last 6 months. http://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-austin-rent-trends... http://kxan.com/2014/08/01/austin-hottest-real-estate-market... While these seem like peanuts for Coaster's, its having a pretty huge effect on long time residents. We're undergoing a building boom that feels insane.
As someone on the inside, I'm sorry to say it's going to get worse before it gets better.
But there is a real chance, that in a few years, we'll see some moderation, as Millennials fail to replace the last crop of new homebuyers and current values fall. That's what I'm hoping for, at least.
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#28Austin isn't much better. We have a 9% jump in the last 6 months. http://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-austin-rent-trends... http://kxan.com/2014/08/01/austin-hottest-real-estate-market... While these seem like peanuts for Coaster's, its having a pretty huge effect on long time residents. We're undergoing a building boom that feels insane.
And I second your thoughts. Transplants from the coast still think it's an affordability paradise, but for someone who's grown up here all his life, the picture looks bleaker.
I just hope we don't become SF!
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#29http://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.
There's no doubt that in many areas, including the San Francisco Bay Area, the current trend is not sustainable. But I think you're underestimating some fundamental shifts that have taken place that will put a floor under rents.
First, in the wake of the Great Recession, many folks are simply not able to buy homes. They can't meet more stringent lending standards and while there are efforts to make mortgages more accessible, a repeat of what you saw in the last housing bubble isn't likely any time soon. Making matters worse for folks still getting their financial footing is that home prices have appreciated considerably over the past several years.
Second, you need to consider demographics. Most young people can't afford to buy homes (more and more of them are living with their parents into their late 20s and 30s), and surveys indicate that home ownership is generally less important to younger people.
Finally, in some areas, including some of the most desirable parts of the Bay Area, there is realistically not going to be a significant increase in supply any time soon, so demand is likely to exceed supply for the foreseeable future.
Obviously, another recession would put a damper on things and double digit decreases in average rents are even possible in the hottest markets under such a scenario, but people waiting for $1,500 studio apartments in San Francisco shouldn't hold their breath.
Re: San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
#30The 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 live in SF and I work in tech. I make north of 100k and my rent is 2k. Your situation seems bizarre to me. If you and your girlfriend make north of 100k, then you're pulling in cumulatively 13k-15k/mo after taxes. At $3k/mo your rent is below the commonly cited You really are doing something wrong. I don't know if you're griping in vain, but you and your girlfriend should review your lifestyle and make some changes…
We are definitely not living in financial hardship and I didn't mean to come off as someone who did. I definitely consider myself as one of the privileged ones and it helps that I have someone else contributing to the household. It's hard for me to imagine however, how I would be able to survive on my own or try and raise a family in current conditions, let alone being one of the less privileged, meaning not working in tech and having to live off (way) less than 100k in and around SF.
Now that I think of it, no-one I work with (with families) live in SF, even my boss and her boss (undoubtedly making north of 200k) all live outside the city (and even outside the peninsula) in places like Castro Valley, Fremont, etc. and most of those places have caught up pretty well with SF prices so I have no idea where to go next. (We bought a house in Tracy, CA that we are renting out, which was the closest place we could afford to buy).
I can't even begin to think where the next generation of workers will be living and in what conditions. Seems to me that if the 'middle class' is already being priced out of the city (and most of the bay area in general), in another 20 years or so, the city will either consists of VCs/dotcom/execs or prices will have to fall significantly.