San Francisco one-bedroom rents at record high, up 25% year-over-year, report finds
By Tim Fang
Median rents in San Francisco again reached record highs in September, with the price of a one-bedroom almost closing the gap with New York City, a new report finds.
According to the real estate company Zumper, the median rent for a one-bedroom in the city climbed to $4,400 a month, the second highest in the country. In contrast, the median one-bedroom rent in the Big Apple was just $180 more, at $4,580/month.
Meanwhile, the median two-bedroom rent in San Francisco has reached $6,340 a month, the highest in the U.S. and nearly $900 more than New York. Two-bedroom rents in the city soared past the $6,000 mark in July.
Over the past year, rents in San Francisco have jumped 25.4% for a one-bedroom and 26.8% for a two-bedroom.
In a statement, the company said rents in San Francisco have risen so quickly due to hiring in the AI sector, which has created a lot of new demand while there is very little new supply.
San Francisco rents are rising significantly faster than other parts of the country and even other parts of the Bay Area, the company found.
In San Jose, the median one-bedroom rent is $2,890 a month and $3,530 a month for a two-bedroom (up 5.9% and 11.1% year-over-year, respectively). Meanwhile in Oakland, a median one-bedroom is $2,100 a month (up $5.5% year-over-year) and $2,700 a month for a two-bedroom (up 4.2% year-over-year).
Nationally, the median one-bedroom rent is up 0.1% year-over-year to $1,518 a month, while the median two-bedroom rent is up 0.5% year-over-year to $1,903 a month.
“There really isn’t one U.S. rental market right now,” Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy said in a statement. “The common denominator is supply: markets still absorbing the building boom are competing aggressively for renters, while markets that avoided it are tightening quickly.”
Earlier this month, Mayor Daniel Lurie declared a “rent emergency” in San Francisco, due to rising rents and rising evictions, which are expected to be the highest in a decade.
“For thousands upon thousands of San Franciscans, the most immediate pressure right now is rent,” Lurie said at a briefing on Sept. 10. “And that pressure is rising rapidly.”
Lurie has called for several measures, including a 10% cap on rent increases and pouring roughly $55 million into a legal fund for tenants fighting to stay in their homes.
