Just the other day we discussed the “Escape from New York” phenomenon, exposed by the fact that record numbers of apartments in the Big Apple are currently sitting vacant. People are packing up and getting out while the getting is good, frequently leaving a bonanza of nice furniture on the curb for their neighbors and the homeless. Meanwhile, real estate values are rising in Connecticut and the Hamptons as people compete to scoop up new residences in safer areas.
But it turns out that Gotham isn’t the only place experiencing something of an exodus. On the opposite coast, the City by the Bay is looking a tad more empty these days as well. The chief indicator once again comes to us via the real estate market. As the San Francisco Gate explains, empty housing is flooding the market all of a sudden and the increase is described as “staggering.”
A new report confirms what many have been talking about for weeks: There is an exodus out of San Francisco, and the numbers are staggering.
Online real estate company Zillow released new statistics shining a stark light on the issue this week. Their “2020 Urban-Suburban Market Report” reveals that inventory has risen a whopping 96% year-on-year, as empty homes in the city flood the market like nowhere else in America.
The reason for this change is likely a combination of a few unprecedented factors that have collided this summer, resulting in a historic shift in the city.
The “unprecedented factors” referred to in that excerpt won’t come as any surprise to anyone who has followed the news and been paying attention. And all of these elements have combined to deliver an unprecedented 96% increase in the available inventory of real estate on the market as compared to the same period last year.
At the top of the list is the staggering cost of living in San Francisco, particularly when it comes to rental rates and the price of homes. It was already difficult to afford to put a roof over your head there, but the pandemic has caused a number of shifts in the normal ebb and flow of life. Many people lost their jobs and the tech giants who kept people on the payroll have largely sent everyone to work from home, in some cases permanently. And if you can work from home, why make that home in a place you can barely afford? Many tech industry workers are heading for cheaper places to live and taking their laptops with them.
At the same time, the city’s thriving entertainment industry not only employed a ton of people but also made the quality of life good enough that it might have been worth paying to live there. But with the pandemic, the bars, restaurants, theaters and other gathering places have largely been shuttered. That has caused more people to leave and the lack of entertainment options makes it less tempting for the rest to stay.
The explosion of homeless encampments has doubtless been another factor. Even with a large number of the homeless being moved into hotels, the streets remain crowded with encampments where drug abuse, filth and violence abound. That may make it even harder to sell a home in those neighborhoods, but it’s a powerful incentive to seek greener pastures.
The one area where San Francisco has fared better than New York and several other large cities has been in their crime rate. Overall, most categories of crime are currently at lower levels than in an average year, though arson, burglary and vehicle theft have been on the rise. Also, while there have been some protests with associated vandalism and property crime, it hasn’t been nearly as chaotic and violent as what’s been happening in Portland, Chicago, Minnesota or New York City.
The fact is that San Francisco was already an expensive place to live with many incentives to get out. The pandemic and the unrest have simply provided a sort of tipping point that convinced many residents to get out of Dodge while there was still time.
