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Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

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Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#31

Post by paulg_ »

gergles wrote: post #3

I used to live in a building near a Google shuttle stop on the border of the TL. They wanted to raise my rent almost 20% y/y for a lease renewal, and the place was a trainwreck quality-wise (as was the neighborhood.) When I went to move out, the leasing agent just shrugged and said "Some Googler will happily pay even more than that." The real problem is SF prohibiting any dense housing from being built anywhere in th…

That's a huge increase, but actually follows overall San Francisco rental trends. HotPads recently looked at rental trends YoY and found SF rent is up 20%. It's also the most expensive city to rent in the U.S. (a two bedroom in SF is 23% more expensive than the same size in NYC).

Data here: http://hotpads.com/pages/housing-report-2012-6.htm

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#32

Post by anigbrowl »

wunderland wrote: post #4

What should someone do if they're moving to SF and want to live in SOMA or nearby neighborhoods? Does anyone have any recommendations? It seems like there aren't that many choices for buildings, and a lot of them aren't that new. All of the reviews I have read (for almost all of the buildings) sound mediocre or negative.

Forget it, unless you have friends or money. The building quality is generally terrible and the economics are dreadful. My wife and I bought in North Oakland, not far from Berkeley. It's not perfect, but it's a lot nicer than the Mission was when I first moved to SF. We spent over 2 years looking for a place, partly because my wife grew up in SF and was reluctant to move outside the city. Now we have space and she gets downtown in half the time on the days when she goes to her office, plus we have a large garden and a kitchen we can both fit into at once. The economics are a bit different if you're renting, but not that different. Sorry to say it because I lived in SF for 15 years, but I gave up on the city a couple of years ago and haven't missed living there since we moved last spring.

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#34

Post by eweise »

gergles wrote: post #3

I used to live in a building near a Google shuttle stop on the border of the TL. They wanted to raise my rent almost 20% y/y for a lease renewal, and the place was a trainwreck quality-wise (as was the neighborhood.) When I went to move out, the leasing agent just shrugged and said "Some Googler will happily pay even more than that." The real problem is SF prohibiting any dense housing from being built anywhere in th…

"The real problem is SF prohibiting any dense housing from being built anywhere in the city"

Huh? In most of SF the houses are about 1 inch from each other. It must have the densest housing on the west coast.

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#35

Post by jaems33 »

jseliger wrote: post #24

The basic problem is simple: lots of demand chasing little supply, as discussed extensively here: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/05/face... (HN discussion: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/05/face... ). See also this: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/11/a-tale-o... . This is one of these problems that has a simple, obvious solution—raise or remove height limit…

Doesn't SF's risk of liquefaction plus the current soft soils around the city make it potentially quite dangerous to build taller buildings?

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/soiltype/map/

http://thefrontsteps.com/2010/11/22/san-francisco-neighborho...

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#36

Post by mc32 »

_delirium wrote: post #5
gergles wrote: post #3

I used to live in a building near a Google shuttle stop on the border of the TL. They wanted to raise my rent almost 20% y/y for a lease renewal, and the place was a trainwreck quality-wise (as was the neighborhood.) When I went to move out, the leasing agent just shrugged and said "Some Googler will happily pay even more than that." The real problem is SF prohibiting any dense housing from being built anywhere in th…

I don't think they're prohibiting dense housing per se, just not approving/building enough of it. There have been several 50-story condos opened in the past few years, and several more currently under construction, but they're not enough to keep pace with growth in demand. It didn't help that there was a ~2-year lull in construction when a bunch of developers got into financial trouble during the financial crisis and…

I believe there are some political issues (neighborhoods decrying the loss of "Old SF") in addition to somewhat onerous (compared to SJ) planning requirements, specially north of Market (where no building shadow shall impinge on a public park during the hours of 10am to 4pm or something.

Developments typically appease the loud-voiced locals by either pulling out of development plans or modifying their original proposals to lower heights (and thus lower density).

It seems some voices SF, while urban, would prefer to keep SF a quaint victorian town. I mean, we're in the 21st century, allow the city to grow like a city.

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#37

Post by articwombat »

planetguy wrote: post #25
ubernostrum wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be conflating "rent control" and "rent stabilization", which are two different things. Also, these economists appear to be ignoring a simple practical matter. The idea behind most rent regulation is to avoid pricing low-income-but-necessary-to-basic-function people out of an area. These are, basically, the garbagemen and janitors and cooks and such, who can quickly find themselves priced out of anything w…

That's the stated justification. The real reason is that politicians of certain stripes enjoy redistributing wealth from the landlord class to the tenant class and getting rewarded with votes for it, so the stated reason is disingenuous anyway, but let's examine the stated reason carefully. Has this ever actually happened? Has any city ever run out of garbagemen and janitors due to a lack of rent control? I have neve…

Yes, this happened in San Jose during the last bubble, when Firefighters and Police couldn't afford to live in the city.

Who on minimum wage can afford to drive a car for an hour to work each way?

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#38

Post by anigbrowl »

gergles wrote: post #3

I used to live in a building near a Google shuttle stop on the border of the TL. They wanted to raise my rent almost 20% y/y for a lease renewal, and the place was a trainwreck quality-wise (as was the neighborhood.) When I went to move out, the leasing agent just shrugged and said "Some Googler will happily pay even more than that." The real problem is SF prohibiting any dense housing from being built anywhere in th…

SF prohibiting any dense housing from being built anywhere in the city

SF would love to give out more building permits than it actually does. The problem is that existing property owners and tenants bewail any attempt at building upwards and the permitting process is so process-heavy (environmental review, public comment periods etc.) that getting anything actually done turns into a major political battle. Forgive me for saying so, but if not for the loss of life and livelihood the best thing that could happen the city right now would be a medium-size earthquake. It's so dysfunctional as to have affected my political views.

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#39

Post by norcalzyng »

eshvk wrote: post #22
wunderland wrote: post #4

What should someone do if they're moving to SF and want to live in SOMA or nearby neighborhoods? Does anyone have any recommendations? It seems like there aren't that many choices for buildings, and a lot of them aren't that new. All of the reviews I have read (for almost all of the buildings) sound mediocre or negative.

Avalon is brand new and freaking expensive. It depends on your comfort level. For me $3K odd for a 1 bedroom apartment was deeply discomforting. If you are open to living a little far away, take a look at the Castro, Noe Valley, Haight-Ashbury. All these neighborhoods are on Muni train lines which will make traveling to SoMa suck less (it won't be awesome but it will be ok).

It is also riddled with problems: management went to the pits from mid 2010; the construction quality is terrible (particularly in the new third phase); if you value a decent night's sleep, you're screwed (Caltrain and Berry St garbage trucks)

Moving into an older, but more sturdy unit is the most sensible thing we have ever decided to do.

Re: Tech Boom Hits San Francisco Rental Prices

#40

Post by cdr »

juiceandjuice wrote: post #20
bbrian wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any figures? I live in Dublin, Ireland, and pay €500 ($624) per month for a room in a two bed apartment in the centre of the city. That's cheap for the area -- I live within walking distance of all the bars.

You can't get a room share in most of SF for under $700, for SOMA and the Mission you'll be lucky at $850. A studio you might be able to get for $1200-$1500, 1BR $1400-1800, 2BR $2000-$$$$$. This is assuming you don't want to live in Bayview.

I used to rent an entire 3BR house for $700/mo, albeit in one of the more depressed markets in the US. Thinking about moving to SF makes me more than a little queasy.
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