February rents in San Francisco and San Jose were nearly as high as they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released this week.
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The median rental prices in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward ($2,970) and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara ($3,024) metropolitan areas last month were $16 and $76 lower than February 2020 rents, according to Wednesday's Realtor.com analysis of studio, one- and two-bedroom listings on the platform.
Rents increased by 12.1% and 14.2%, respectively, in the two metropolitan areas over February 2021. The median rental prices last February, by contrast, were down 12.6% and 13.2% from February 2020.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara once again had the most expensive median rental price among the top 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S., but it wasn't the most expensive in terms of percentage of the median household income in the region.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, households that spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs are considered cost-burdened. Fourteen of the top 50 metro areas surpassed that threshold last month, including five in California and one in the Bay Area.
Among California metropolitan areas, the median rental price last month in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ($2,993 per month; 46% of median household income), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario ($2,678; 45.9%), San Diego-Carlsbad ($3,008; 42.9%), Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade ($2,029; 31.8%) and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward ($2,970; 30.5%) all surpassed 30%.
Bay Area rents approached pre-pandemic levels in the same month most counties started lifting coronavirus restrictions, and as Americans continue contending with inflation.
Every county, save for Santa Clara, lifted its public indoor mask mandate on Feb. 16. Santa Clara County, the Bay Area's largest, lifted its mandate on March 2. This month, San Francisco – which no longer requires indoor businesses to verify proof of COVID-19 vaccination – touted a number of business reopening their downtown offices on at least a hybrid basis.
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