The weighted average asking rent for an apartment in San Francisco ticked up a (1) percent over the past month to $3,330, representing the first uptick in eight months.
That being said, the average asking rent in San Francisco still 7 percent lower than at the same time last year and 25 percent below a 2015-era peak of nearly $4,500 a month, with the average asking rent for a one-bedroom in San Francisco having inched up to $2,950 per month but still 2 percent lower than at the same time last year and over 20 percent below peak.
At the same time, the number of apartments listed for rent in San Francisco (i.e., inventory) has dropped to within 1 percent of pre-pandemic levels, at which point the average asking rent was 19 percent higher with a dramatically lower cost of capital. And while local employment inched up in March, it’s still well below pre-pandemic levels and peak, facts that aren’t “bearish” or “pessimistic” in nature but key to understanding and acting on the actual market trends (none of which should catch any plugged-in readers, other than the most obstinate, by surprise).
Keep in mind that our analyses of the rental market in San Francisco are based on over 200,000 data points going back two decades that we maintain, normalize and index on a monthly basis (versus relying on a few years of data or “recollections”). We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.
Are you gonna explain what an “apartment” is in this context? Studio, Jr 1 bedroom, 1 bed, 2, 3? A weighted average of 1 and 2bd? “Average” is a meaningless statistic to your headline if you’re not going to define it in any way
Unless already inflation-adjusted, $4,500/month in 2015 equates to $5,889/month in 2024 dollars (mid 2015 > today), which is wild. In a way it we’re ~50% below peak.
Thanks for this as always. Does your normalization include indexing for inflation? Just curious.
Anecdotally, I had no trouble leasing a 2/2 top floor flat with no parking and shared laundry in Cow Hollow for $4250/month. We had nine applications.