Renting in San Francisco, 2013 edition

Welcome to another wildly exciting year of rental real estate in San Francisco. The good news is that some new apartment inventory will be entering the marketplace this year. The bad news is that it will be just as expensive as the existing housing stock, and rental rates overall will likely continue to increase in the year ahead, although probably not as much as the 10 percent increase we experienced over the last calendar year.

For the most part, there won’t be too many changes for SF renters in the year ahead. Many of the traditional rules will hold: reasonably priced apartments will be hard to come by, rent-controlled units will be veritably impossible to locate, and many of us who are not shacked up with significant others will settle for living with roommates for yet another year.

But there will be a few new and interesting developments out there in Rental Wonderland, and they might look something like this:

-More online technology will make the renting process faster, easier, more user-friendly and fun.  More and more multi-unit apartment communities are making the transition to online and tablet-based leasing, so you can fill out your application and execute a lease agreement all without touching a single piece of paper.

-If mortgage rates stay low, as expected, and the job market stays strong, there will be the opportunity for more current renters to become home buyers, easing up some of the demand for apartments and creating some wiggle room in the rental market. Combined with some access to new housing stock as completed developments come online. 2013 is already looking a bit rosier for SF renters than 2012.

-Competition will still be plentiful and cash-flow positive for renters looking at median priced units (currently hovering around $2,400 – $2,500). This is the plot point at which demand is most intense, so prepare to battle if you are looking for an apartment around this price. Don’t even bother to look at an open house unless you are prepared with a deposit, great credit score and references, and ready to jump if the leasing agent or landlord likes you.

What do you think 2013 holds for San Francisco’s rental market?