Data Indicate Apartment Rents Falling (Slightly) in San Francisco

There is some early evidence that rents in San Francisco, which have generated widespread concern in recent years, might finally be leveling off.

According to data gathered by the rental startup Zumper, median rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments actually fell slightly between May and July.

The company, which says it carries the “vast majority” of listings in the city, calculates the median one-bedroom rent at $2,695 in July (down from $2,764 in May). The median rent for a two-bedroom also dipped slightly, from $4,000 to $3,950 over that two-month period.

The median is the numerical value separating the higher half of a data set from the lower half.

For the first time this year, according to the data, Russian Hill has edged out South Beach as the most expensive neighborhood in San Francisco for a one-bedroom apartment.

As of July, the median price for a one-bedroom in Russian Hill is $3,500, which is $50 more than a similar unit costs in South Beach.

While rents fell slightly for the city overall, Zumper co-founder and COO Taylor Glass-Moore says rents in northern parts of the city like Pacific Heights and Russian Hill are "likely due to people paying premiums for summer rentals during America's Cup. I'd expect the prices in those areas to drop a bit once the race is over."

"Zumper has the vast majority of (rental) data in San Francisco,” says co-founder & CEO Anthemos Georgiades, "and it's all posted to us directly by landlords and brokers so we're confident in the data.”

Georgiades cautions that when studying its data, people should know that ”these are for available units listed onto market this month, and not a reflection of what some people may be historically paying in these neighborhoods.”

He says the company uses median rents ”to discount outlier listings and so as to not over/understate the real prices."

At the other end of the spectrum from Russian Hill and South Beach, according to Zumper, the most affordable neighborhoods to find a one-bedroom in the city include the Outer Richmond ($1,835), the  Outer Sunset ($1,950), the Outer Mission/ Excelsior ($1,975) and  the Bayview ($1,995).