Published Aug. 3, 2026at9:00am
San Francisco’s economy is on the upswing.
Office leasing is up, and rents are climbing faster than almost ever before. Meanwhile, by city officials’ own admission, it’s a place where fewer people can afford to live.
The latest economic snapshot from the city controller’s office, released Monday, credits the turnaround largely to San Francisco’s AI investment boom — the same rebound Mayor Daniel Lurie described to The Standard last week as reshaping his governing agenda.
Asking rents for empty apartments grew 14% between March and July. Home prices are climbing at double-digit annual rates even as prices fall statewide. And while office vacancy dropped by 3.7 percentage points over the past year, job growth outside healthcare and tourism has been modest at best.