These Silicon Valley cities now more expensive for renters than SF
By Marcus White | Examiner staff writer | Jun 2, 2023 Updated Jun 6, 2023
Three cities in the Bay Area’s biggest county are closer to a crown that San Francisco has gripped tightly over the past decade: Highest monthly rents.
Median one-bedroom rent was higher in Mountain View ($3,450), Cupertino ($3,110) and Santa Clara ($3,050) last month than in The City, according to the rental platform Zumper, as was median two-bedroom rent in Menlo Park ($4,550), Mountain View ($4,460) and Cupertino ($4,020) than San Francisco ($4,000).
Zumper’s Crystal Chen told The Examiner that Mountain View has been more expensive than San Francisco for a few months, but May marked the first time Santa Clara and Cupertino had been. All three cities, as well as Menlo Park, are home to Silicon Valley giants that have required, or will require, employees to work multiple days a week in person: Apple, Google, Intel and Meta.
“San Francisco rents will likely rise a bit as we get deeper into summer and fall, following typical seasonality, but it seems like the cities down the Peninsula and in South Bay are feeling the heat more in terms of rental demand,” Chen said, also pointing to the construction of luxury apartment buildings in the Santa Clara County cities.
Two-bedroom rent in San Francisco was steady compared to last May, while one-bedroom rents rose just 3.4%. Only a handful of Bay Area cities had smaller yearly declines, while rents rose at least 26% in Santa Clara, Mountain View (31.2%) and Cupertino (40.1%).
Chen said that San Francisco’s flat rental rate “signals that the available stock is meeting the current demand there.”
There might not be much of an increase in The City’s housing stock anytime soon, according to recently released data. The San Francisco Controller’s monthly report showed that on average, The City permitted eight units per month from February to April. That didn’t include permitted units added to existing buildings, such as accessory dwellings.
All told, San Francisco approved an average of 200 fewer housing units per month than it did before the pandemic.
Article by Marcus White: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/housing/sf-rent-now-cheaper-than-these-pricey-silicon-valley-cities/article_2eca71f2-0198-11ee-865f-7bb115fee6e7.html