If you hoped that there is a light at the end of the tunnel where maybe housing prices would become sane again, don’t, says Curbed. They used an analysis from AppFolio, and an expert who said the chances of rents actually dropping, let alone down to reasonable amounts, are pretty slim. SFGate has a more optimistic interpretation of the same data, pointing out that at least the crazy rent increases have slowed down – but notice that’s not saying rents are going to fall dramatically.
So it looks like we’ll continue to see things like this ground-floor studio in a senior home being leased to tech workers…especially as it may be on the market again, if those perforated metal window coverings are any indication. And we will continue to feel that $175,000 is a steal for a gutted, empty studio space with no plumbing or walls.
And I guess rooms in SROs will continue to cost more than $1200 a month. Although I would hope that people like this person trying to rent a studio for $3,300 a month might reconsider. Or at least reconsider their use of ellipses, and maybe provide more than a mysterious blurred photo of what is either a lightning storm, or simply a premonition of the hell that you would experience if you were to take the apartment.
(Side note: My favorite column Apartment Sadness has apparently taken a leave of absence so I decided to fill in, but in perusing Craigslist there were a couple of decent studios out there for $2,000 or so in the Mission so not everything is this bad.)
Chin up, though – it can always be worse and, in fact, it was worse in 2007. At least when you look at how many people in the area could theoretically afford to buy a house. According to Curbed, fewer could do so in 2007 than can now.
So yeah, the pressure is still there on renters, which is why pro-affordability advocates will continue to put pressure on the city and on developers to squish as much affordable housing into new buildings as possible. In one recent case, a developer agreed to go as high as 25 percent affordable on a Mission proposal, though with the passage of Prop C in June that may have to become the new baseline.
As new residents continue to flood in, so do the gripes about how slow San Francisco’s transportation system is. A while ago there was an announcement about how the city is hoping to figure out its 50-year plan for transit in the city. Now there’s an actually kind of fun way to contribute feedback: An interactive map on which you can place subway lines and stops to your heart’s delight. Try not to drool on anything.
If you regularly read this column (surprising) and you regularly read through to the end (shocking!) then you would normally at this point encounter a listing of recent business openings and closures. We’ve decided that since most people are not like you, we will be posting those items individually in shorter pieces – like so.
great writing! And also: what a total drag.
I doubt an app can be trusted to oredict its own demise.