Bay Area Rents Increasing, But Not At Pre-Pandemic Levels Yet

BAY AREA — The cost of rent in the Bay Area may not be at pre-pandemic levels yet, but it has increased sharply over the past year.

While rent in the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas is still below March 2020 levels, Apartment List’s April rent report found that the cost of rent is rising across the region even as its pandemic recovery is slower than that of other major metros.

Alameda was the only city in the San Francisco metro area that saw rent prices decrease in March, according to an analysis of the area’s 10 largest cities by Apartment List. The city of San Mateo topped the region with a median two-bedroom apartment cost of $3,280 in March — accounting for a 16.5 percent rent spike over the past year.

Fremont ($2,980) and Redwood City ($2,970) were not far behind the $3,000-benchmark in monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment, according to Apartment List. San Francisco rent rose slightly in March and up 13 percent this year, with a one-bedroom apartment coming in at $2,360. It was the third straight month of rent increases for the city.

According to Zumper, the awards for fastest growing rent in the Bay Area over the past year went to the South Bay cities of Sunnyvale (31.9 percent) and Campbell (30.1 percent), with Palo Alto (19.6 percent) coming in third.

The largest monthly rental growth rate in March was Walnut Creek (5.2 percent), with Palo Alto and Berkeley not far behind at 5.1 percent.

In perhaps a silver lining for current and prospective Bay Area residents, Miami passed San Jose to become the fourth most expensive rental market in the country, according to Zumper. Miami’s one-bedroom median rent for March rose to $2,500, eclipsing San Jose’s $2,420. San Francisco sits in second at $2,910, behind New York ($3,260).

Zumper attributed San Jose’s one-spot slide as a sign of “how sluggish rent growth in the Bay Area continues to be two years since the beginning of the pandemic,” with remote work still popular in Silicon Valley even with COVID-19 case rates subsiding. Compared to March 2020, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is still down between 5 to 17 percent across the San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco metro areas.

But if the current trends continue, rent in the Bay Area might not remain below pre-pandemic levels for long.