Once Booming San Francisco Apartment Market Goes in Reverse

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City's vacancy rate rose to 6.2% in May, up from 3.9% only three months ago

The Wall Street Journal (June 18, 2020) -- Rents in San Francisco, the most expensive apartment market in the U.S., are tumbling as the city’s vaunted tech sector sheds jobs and more tenants leave the city.

The apartment vacancy rate in San Francisco rose to 6.2% in May, according to apartment data firm RealPage. That’s up from 3.9% only three months ago, after stay-at-home orders went into effect and more people in the city decided not to renew their leases.

San Francisco’s median rent in May for a one-bedroom apartment was also down 9.2% compared with a year ago at $3,360 a month, according to listings platform Zumper. That was still the highest monthly rent of all major U.S. markets, Zumper said, and a reminder of how steeply rents in the city climbed before their more recent descent.

Read more at: The Wall Street Journal