SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – San Francisco has always been known for its extremely expensive rent.
But since the pandemic started changing rental patterns, the city has slowly been losing that reputation.
First New York surpassed us, and now it’s looking like Boston will, according to Zumper analysts.
In the August 2021 Zumper report, NYC rose above San Francisco for the first time since 2014, when the company began tracking renting data.
Boston’s rental rebound in 2021 and San Francisco’s ongoing stagnation have analysts predicting that Boston will soon be the second most expensive city in the country.
Last month, the median one-bedroom rent rate was only $130 difference, with $2,850 in San Francisco and $2,720 in Boston.
Based on previous rent reports, the gap will continue to close.
Zumper
“It’s hard to overstate how astounding that is. In the winter of 2019, San Francisco’s median one-bedroom rent was $1,300 higher than Boston’s. But the pandemic disrupted rental patterns all over the country. Wealthy residents and young professionals left the city and prices went into free fall in both cities,” said Zumper analyst Jeff Andrews.
If you’re comparing prices across the United States to this time one year ago, rent has generally gotten much more expensive.
Zumper’s national rent index hit another all-time high with median one-bedroom rent up 12%, and the median two-bedroom rent is up 14.1% year-over-year.
In the Bay Area, San Francisco ranked as the most expensive city, and Palo Alto was second with one-bedrooms priced at at $2,600.
Vallejo ranked as the most affordable city in the Bay Area with one-bedrooms priced at $1,540, and Concord was the second least expensive with rent at $1,880.
