SF had nation’s least pandemic-era drop in housing inventory

San Francisco and San Jose had the nation’s smallest pandemic-era drop in housing inventory, helping drive prices higher.

Inventory shrank just 7.8 percent in San Francisco and 18 percent in San Jose, compared with the average decrease of 48 percent, according to a Zillow study. It plunged almost 70 percent in Raleigh, North Carolina, the most in the nation, and also fell more than 60 percent in Hartford, Providence and Miami-Fort Lauderdale.

“We’ve seen strong demand for homes and prices rising at previously unfathomable rates,” Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud said in a statement. “A wave of millennial and baby boomer buyers have depleted housing inventory that was never really replenished following the Great Recession.”

The price of a typical U.S. home jumped 32 percent to $331,533. Prices rose 69 percent in Austin and about 50 percent in Phoenix, Arizona and Tampa. Rents in Tampa leapt the most, jumping 37.1 percent to $1,999, followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Phoenix. San Francisco’s and San Jose’s rental market barely budged since the pandemic.

“We’re probably looking at the lowest inventory levels in history quite honestly in the Bay Area, whether it’s the San Francisco metro or San Jose metro,” said Compass analyst Patrick Carlisle.

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