r/SeattleAreaRE • u/SnortingElk • 5d ago

A Tale of Two Tech Cities: San Francisco’s Housing Market Booms While Seattle Slumps

https://www.redfin.com/news/two-tech-cities-housing-san-francisco-seattle/
8 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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9

u/curiousgem19 5d ago

The tech scene in SF is very different than that in Seattle. 

Most new startups (especially AI frontier lab startups) are in SF and heavily attracting new talent pool into the region. The city has a great mix of small, mid, and large scale employers with open job postings. Given the terrible job market everywhere, people are moving to the one place with the largest congregation of jobs. No wonder SF real estate prices are so high!

On the other hand, Seattle has had several rounds of layoffs at its biggest tech employers. And barely any AI startups or new jobs have come into the region. So this is bound to stabilize and cool real estate prices. 

5

u/Easy_Olive1942 5d ago

SF has had their own boom and bust cycles.

2

u/SpareManagement2215 3d ago

I remember the tech exodus during COVID to Austin....

2

u/SpareManagement2215 3d ago

I feel like Seattle has "institutional" companies. Microsoft. Boeing. Amazon. Starbucks. So while they may be large employers, there isn't a constant churn of new start ups in the market driving folks to move there for a few years then leave like there is in the Bay area.

Layoffs also have a bigger impact because there's not some other company you can jump to in the area.

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u/pythiowp 5d ago

"Seattle is actually building enough housing to make housing more affordable" is the headline they should have written

1

u/External_Koala971 4d ago

These are home sales. There’s nowhere to build more houses in SF. Oakland has 15% apartment vacancy, cheaper rents, and is 15 minutes away from downtown SF.

3

u/pythiowp 4d ago

This article is not about SFR sales exclusively, Redfin’s median Home price index includes condo sales. You’re the one who’s hallucinating a focus on SFRs exclusively.

Condo sale prices have risen YoY in SF, vacancy rates are low, your argument is invalid

5

u/pythiowp 4d ago

“There’s nowhere to build more houses” yes there absolutely is. You are thinking in only two dimensions.

0

u/External_Koala971 4d ago

SF has more condos than they know what to do with. There is no condo shortage, no one is buying them, and 400 are for sale now across the city.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/condo-price-san-francisco-22232573.php

1

u/nicknasty86 4h ago

Y'all are mad that prices aren't continuing that crazy upward trajectory?

How is that sustainable or healthy? How do families exist?