It’s hard to imagine, but homeownership has proven even more cost-ineffective in the Bay Area.
A study of four major Bay Area cities found most homeowners only break even after paying off a 30-year mortgage, an uptick from a 20-year break-even point for homeownership last year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing a rent-versus-buy calculator using NerdWallet.
While rental costs remained relatively static, numerous homeownership-related costs were revised upward, collectively making buying significantly more expensive.
Everywhere but downtown
Downtown is not the center of San Francisco’s fast-selling condominiums.
JS Sullivan’s Maison Pacific, a six-story 53-unit condo project in Russian Hill, came to market in the fall of 2023 and sold out in a year.
TRI Pointe Home’s Lofton at Portola and Prado Group’s 2238 Market, condos that also sold out last year, were all outside of downtown, according to Polaris Pacific.
Yet of the 273 condo units under construction in the city, almost all are downtown.
Condo buyers don’t typically want to be downtown, Compass agent John Townsend said in this month’s magazine.
What’s old is new
Bay Area builders and homeowners are accusing utility Pacific Gas and Electric of holding up their granny flats by a year or more.
The state’s largest utility company has held up these accessory dwelling units and created chronic delays, driving up costs for some homeowners.
A spokesperson for PG&E said the utility has been working to improve its processes, but that many issues are outside of its control and such complaints do not reflect the majority of its customers’ experiences.
But builders and homeowners described recurring themes with PG&E, including weather-related delays, communication issues, inconsistent enforcement of rules from PG&E’s “Green Book,” and poor management of the contractors PG&E outsources some of its work to.
Heating up a cooler trend
Co-living firms that struggled during the pandemic are experiencing a resurgence as young entrepreneurs flood San Francisco to join the artificial intelligence boom.
Once there, the tech workers are renting tiny (100 square feet), affordable ($1,000 a month) “tech dorms.”
UrbaNests, a local co-living landlord, operates tech dorms where mostly foreign-born engineers share meals, ideas and an AI mindset.
South Africa-based Neighbourgood has opened three co-living buildings with 53 rooms, one in the North of the Panhandle and two in the Mission.
Neighbourgood CEO Murray Clark says it has big plans for San Francisco.
“We want to get to 1,000 in the next 24 to 36 months and 2,500 in the next five to seven years,” he said.
SF versus LA on QOL
San Francisco is faring better than the City of Angels when it comes to quality-of-life issues, according to Angela Aman.
The CEO of Kilroy Realty, who oversees 6.2 million square feet of office space in the San Francisco Bay area and 4.3 million square feet in Los Angeles, talked to The Real Deal for the April magazine’s Closing feature.
“I’ve been up to San Francisco probably at least once a month over the course of the last year, given our portfolio up there, and you can really see and feel the difference each and every time I’m up there,” Aman said. “Things feel better.”
Eastdil sues brokers now at Newmark
A group of six West Coast multifamily brokers that jumped from Eastdil Secured to Newmark in March have come under fire from their former firm.
Eastdil is crying foul on the team, alleging in an Orange County Superior Court lawsuit the group stole trade secrets, including a deal that was in the works, and breached their contracts.
The suit underscores just how competitive the business of brokerages can be when it comes to star earners.
Cardone for governor?
Will he or won’t he?
Real estate investor Grant Cardone has toyed with the notion of running for governor of California. And he is still being coy about it.
Despite some of the video clips posted to Cardone’s Instagram and X accounts suggesting he’s mulling a run as a Republican in 2026, he would not comment to TRD on whether he’s serious about a bid for the office.
The Florida resident and head of Florida-based Cardone Capital owns a beachfront home in Malibu that was damaged during the Southern California wildfires.
The wildfires exposed the “incompetence” of Democratic leadership, Cardone said.
“California can be flipped in 2026,” Cardone told TRD. “Only the most extremist [state residents] believe California is not on the wrong track.”
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Eastdil claims Newmark-defected brokers stole deals, docs
Residential
San Francisco
Renting now pencils out better than owning in SF home market
Co-living biz bounces back with AI boom in SF