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Comment by sheepybloke | Hacker News Reader

Where have you been seeing the rent drop in SF? I'm in the south bay and have been interested in moving to SF now that I'm going remote, since I want a bit more active nightlife. Now that I'm remote, I don't have to stay in south bay.

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Largely SOMA and parts of the Mission and the Van Ness corridor. It's mainly areas which generally feel less like a neighborhood and more like a bustling city - mainly areas where renters are more OK with living in than homeowners would be willing to purchase in. A great example is the new Chorus building which opened in 2021 on Van Ness and Mission. It remained mostly empty throughout 2021 despite offering 10 weeks "free rent" with a 1 year lease. Stunningly gorgeous building, incredible amenities, but a subpar location - a condo here would be sold at a heavy discount because of the location, thus this is a luxury rental apartment instead. Across the street is the new Fifteen Fifty building, also with heavy "free 2 months rent" discount for a 1 year lease.

But even in the most desirable neighborhoods, rents are still down about 10-15% compared to pre-COVID

I would revise this statement: "mainly areas where renters are more OK with living in than homeowners would be willing to purchase in"

To say: Areas that appear less like traditional neighborhoods with single family homes and more large modern condo buildings.

Our building, and many around ours are largely condos, not rentals. They don't look like traditional houses, but even in this more modern area with multi story buildings and retail all over the 1st floor it's not that it's a place that people don't want to buy homes, it's that there are no "homes" to buy, just condos.

Is the word home not used to describe condos as well? I would have figured it’s a place with no houses to buy.

yes, buying/owning a home does include condos.

I use the word "home" to also include condos. Home does not mean "house".

Hayes Valley has tons of condos - homeowners want to buy here. Homeowners don't really want to buy at 6th and Mission and a Condo there would be heavily discounted per sqft.

Mission Bay also feels like a neighborhood - calm, some park space, all condos

Rents are definitely down - or at least they were 1.5 years ago when I last moved. Before the pandemic, 1 bedrooms were usually at least $3500 and often $4000+. When I looked last January, there were decent places between $2500 and $3000. I emailed some landlords saying "is there any chance you could go lower" and they offered me free rent for 1-3 months. I ended up with a pretty good deal on a large one bedroom in the Mission.

Rents have gone up since then from my understanding, but they're still below what they were several years ago. https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/san-francisco-ca

I have seen more 'For rent' signs in the last 3 or 4 months than I have in the last 15 years I've been living here. No idea how that translates to rent prices though.

Many buildings around us have not since raised their rents. Still bargains to be had.

$3000 a month for a modern building, good one bedroom? Not a studio.

In SOMA/Mission? That's genuinely somewhat affordable for tech workers.

You'd get a terrible studio in Manhattan for that, plus all sorts of fees.

San Francisco's reputation is letting itself down. The house price bubble must only be for 3BR family homes with a yard in San Jose/Palo Alto.

I haven’t seen these supposed rent drops in SF or the Bay Area either. My lease in the peninsula is up next month and the rent is increasing about 8%, and that’s aligned with the prices I’m seeing elsewhere for comparable apartments.

We've known multiple people whom their building was expecting they'd continue their lease at the higher rent while offering the lower rents to the general public for new tenants. I'd encourage you to find out what they're advertising rents at for new tenants and then hold them to that advertised rent.

The available units listed on the website are even slightly higher prices.

There’s another nearby building that’s extremely similar (same developer, I believe, and very similar floor plans, appliances, and amenities). Last summer comparable units in that building were priced the same as in my building, but are now a ludicrous 20-25% higher than my building.

Things are rising a bit now but if you jumped into a new place in like 2021, the discounts were pretty absurd.

Check out SOMA, dogpatch, Potrero, south beach, etc.

Rents are still significantly less around here than before the pandemic.

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