Renting in San Francisco this year is all horror stories. Prospective renters are met with dozens of people crowding open houses, many with already completed leasing applications in hand, apartments that are leased within a couple of days, and, worst of all, people offering to pay the landlord even more than the listed rent.
For anyone trying to rent in the city, it comes as no surprise that prices have been accelerating since December, according to a recent city economy report, fueled by the AI boom bringing highly paid workers to the city in droves while squeezing those with lower incomes.
Compared with April of last year, rents have spiked nearly 15% on average, according to data from ApartmentList. That data takes into account all rents paid — not just those on active listings — using Census data alongside its own model for calculating price changes…