The housing market in San Francisco is very much not free. Most areas are single family zoned so you are not allowed to build apartments (which are very much needed to meet demand), and extensive approvals are required to build anything. https://thefrisc.com/how-long-it-really-takes-to-get-a-build...

Although it is true that the problem of excessive bureaucracy is not exclusive to Europe and very common in the US too.

Who said a free market must be cheap or accessible?

If real eastate in NYC & SFO is a free market, why do homeowners & landowners need to go through a political process & seek favour with neighbours in order to get permission to build a 3 storey apartment building?

A world where bakers had to seek permission of other bakers to increase their daily bread production wouldn't be called a market, it would be called a cartel, and no one would be surprised to see bread prices rising through the roof if the cartel members were successful at enforcement.