Back in November the press was kvelling about how the vacancy rate for apartment rentals was reaching dot-com-era levels, and, yeah, it's only gotten worse in six months. There was a story on Sunday in the Chron about a furnished studio a STUDIO in SoMa going for $3500/mo, and another recent one in the Wall Street Journal featuring a frenzied horde of prospective tenants backing the landlord of a 600-square-foot, $3200 studio into a corner waving their applications in the air like rabid tweens trying to get an autograph from Taylor Lautner.
SF Gate's On the Block blog now reports that rents in San Francisco are up 15% over last year, which anyone who's been in the market for a new place probably knows by now. And property owners are reporting they're able to boost rents 30-40% when they move out tenants who have been there a couple of years.
Basically we need an earthquake to solve this mess. Sorry, everyone. It's time.
[Editors' Note: We obviously do not love earthquakes and do not wish anyone harm.]
