Here's how much it has gone up
S.F. Rent Increases Keep Smashing Records.
San Francisco rents set yet another record in September, with median prices posting double-digit gains from a year ago – by the largest margin this decade.
The median asking rent for a one-bedroom unit in the city was about $3,920 this month, the highest-ever in nominal dollars and up a whopping 26% from the $3,110 average in September 2025, according to data from rental site Apartment List. That was by far the highest annual price increase of any city in Apartment List’s data.
Even so, San Francisco’s rents remain below the pre-pandemic high after adjusting for inflation: $4,300 in October 2018. Still, the latest year-over-year increase is larger than any other since 2018, the furthest back Apartment List data reaches.
The artificial intelligence boom has sent San Francisco’s rent prices on a seemingly unending climb since last year, squeezing renters who had found a bit of breathing room during and after the pandemic. Just 2.6% of San Francisco units on Apartment List are vacant, down from 3.8% in September 2025. And while most of the city’s rentals are rent controlled, the surge in prices has coincided with a swell in eviction notices and buyout agreements.
A recent report from CBRE found that rents have grown most significantly in neighborhoods where they’d dropped most sharply during the pandemic, including SoMa and downtown. But housing has become more expensive throughout the city, with for-sale homes in northern neighborhoods marking record prices.
The trends prompted Mayor Daniel Lurie to declare a “rent emergency” early this month, when he announced a slate of proposals that would provide additional financial and legal support to tenants facing eviction.
Tenants in other Bay Area cities are feeling the heat, too. Median rents in Oakland rose from $1,920 in September 2025, after adjusting for inflation, to $2,170 in September 2026. The 13% jump was the second-highest increase among the 100 largest cities in Apartment List’s data, though the East Bay city’s prices remain far below their pre-pandemic levels. San Jose recorded a 4% price increase.
Rents outside the Bay Area have generally trended in the opposite direction; nationwide, median asking rents are down about 3% from last year. That decline is led largely by cities in Texas that saw an explosion of new home building during the pandemic followed by a slowdown in the number of remote workers moving there.
San Francisco could see its own construction boom as developers and investors ramp up projects to capitalize on rising rents and shifts in the city’s building requirements, including a lower affordable housing mandate. But it could be years before those buildings are ready for tenants.
Source: yahoo!news
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