Re:San Francisco rents increased by 13.5% in 2014
by runamok on Wednesday December 10, 2014 @02:00AM
(#8728018)
My pet theory (with some anecdotal evidence) is that a lot of external investors are buying up most of the inventory. And a lot of young people making > 100k will spend large amounts of their income to live in the bay area even if they have to have roommates, etc. Cities like SF and NYC do have the advantage that you don't strictly NEED a car at least in some areas (and of course the gas, maintenance and insurance that goes with it) so that frees up a decent chunk of cash too.
What generally happens is once people start getting married and having kids they move to other states. I have seen this with several friends.
Now that I think of it, no-one I work with (with families) live in SF, even my boss and her boss (undoubtedly making north of 200k) all live outside the city (and even outside the peninsula) in places like Castro Valley, Fremont, etc. and most of those places have caught up pretty well with SF prices so I have no idea where to go next. (We bought a house in Tracy, CA that we are renting out, which was the closest place we could afford to buy).
I can't even begin to think where the next generation of workers will be living and in what conditions. Seems to me that if the 'middle class' is already being priced out of the city (and most of the bay area in general), in another 20 years or so, the city will either consists of VCs/dotcom/execs or prices will have to fall significantly.