{"id":410713,"date":"2026-07-24T12:22:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/410713\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T12:22:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:22:33","slug":"san-francisco-home-prices-hit-eye-popping-highs-thanks-to-ai-gold-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/410713\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco home prices hit eye-popping highs thanks to AI \u2018gold rush\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A tech boom has pushed San Francisco home prices<\/a> from expensive to stratospheric \u2014\u00a0leaving locals wondering when the AI-crazed madness<\/a> will end, and whether there\u2019s any hope left for ordinary folks to buy in.<\/p>\n

Median sale prices in the red-hot market hit $1.7 million last month, according to Homes.com<\/a>, while the prices of single-family homes exceed $2.1 million, far out of reach for many local buyers. <\/p>\n

San Francisco home prices have hit new highs this year, thanks to AI money. Nicholas J. Klein \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because of a tsunami of AI wealth concentrated in the city, coupled with a lack of inventory \u2014 leading wealthy and desperate home buyers to bid up some properties by $1 million or more and even dangle shares of leading firms like Anthropic <\/a>in exchange for scarce homes. <\/p>\n

To underscore the insanity, one relatively shabby 2,400-square-foot home along a noisy street in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood sold for $3.1 million, seven figures over its original asking price. <\/p>\n

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A relatively shabby residence that sold for more than $1 million over asking. Google Maps<\/p>\n

The city of roughly 900,000 people at the center of the AI boom is now flooded with housing horror stories as even modest rental units aren\u2019t spared<\/a>. <\/p>\n

One North Beach landlord listed a 64-square-foot cell with a shared bathroom and no kitchen access for $750 per month<\/a>. And regular families say they\u2019re being booted from longtime rentals as landlords jack up rates to milk the newfound tech riches. <\/p>\n

One rental listing offered a 64-square-foot cell with no bathroom for $750 per month. Fanny Chun Structure Properties Inc<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s very little product to find if you\u2019re a renter or buyer, and that\u2019s why prices are shooting up,\u2019 explained Nigel Hughes, an analyst with Homes.com.<\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s priciest known home listing<\/a> is the $67 million Pacific Heights manse of Oracle heiress Nicole Miner and her author hubby Robert Mailer Anderson, built on a plot of land they bought for just $5 million in 1999. <\/p>\n

Demand is concentrated in luxury homes in San Francisco\u2019s most desirable neighborhoods \u2014 often located within an easy commute to downtown. Below the $2 million range, sale prices aren\u2019t quite as \u201cexorbitant,\u201d Hughes added. <\/p>\n

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San Francisco\u2019s famous \u201cPainted Ladies\u201d Victorian homes. Luciano Mortula-LGM \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

With a slew of AI IPOs expected as soon as this year, Hughes believes there\u2019s \u201cno end in sight\u201d to the elevated prices. <\/p>\n

But there may be glimmers of hope yet for the non-billionaire San Francisco buyer. <\/p>\n

Prices are a function of supply and demand and there are relatively few homes on the market, and even fewer single-family homes in fashionable neighborhoods, analysts have noted. <\/p>\n

OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT is driving some of the real estate frenzy. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n

That may be partly because sellers are holding onto properties in the hopes that even more buyers will emerge with blockbuster IPOs, according to Real Estate News<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Summer is slow for real estate sales and a new surge in supply could arrive in the fall, Coldwell Banker agent Jeremy Rushton\u00a0told the outlet, though there are no guarantees. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe might see some pullback this year if inventory reaches a more normal level,\u201d Rushton\u00a0said. \u201cThere\u2019s often a glut after Labor Day, but time will tell if that happens this year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Mountain View tech campus outside San Francisco. bennymarty \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

There are still many ways for buyers without tech riches to own a piece of San Francisco as long as your expectations are realistic, said longtime realtor Bonnie Spindler, who specializes in the city\u2019s quintessential Victorian homes. <\/p>\n

Tech-driven real estate frenzies are nothing new in a city that\u2019s known for boom-and-bust cycles dating \u201cback to the Gold Rush,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Condos or homes in less-hot neighborhoods may be more accessible to the average buyer, she said, and some put as little as 5% to 10% down on a property or even borrow against retirement savings in order to purchase a property. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can afford rent, you can afford to buy,\u201d she added. \u201cThere are lots of ways to get into this market that doesn\u2019t involve being a billionaire.\u201d <\/p>\n

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