Full Citation
Title: Unpacking the Growth in San Francisco's Vacant Housing Stock
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2018
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Abstract: High vacancy rates in a housing market typically signal a weak market, where supply outruns demand, and rents are stagnant. However, in San Francisco – as well as many other high-cost cities such as Vancouver, London, and New York – we see a different phenomenon: an extremely tight housing market with sky-rocketing rents, that puzzlingly also has a high vacancy rate. This trend is counter-intuitive. With so much demand and high-housing costs, one would expect to see extremely low vacancy rates in high-cost cities such as San Francisco; high demand would result in quick turnover between tenancies, and hefty mortgages due to high property costs would incentivize property owners to rent out their units. Why, then, are there high vacancy rates in such a high cost city and metropolitan area as San Francisco? These vacant units are more than just a peculiar trend; they are also removing valuable housing stock from the already extremely tight housing market. In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that San Francisco had approximately 16,000 vacant housing units. In the American Community Survey estimate from 2015, the estimated number of vacant units had doubled to approximately 33,000 vacant units. To put this figure in perspective, San Francisco has a total of approximately 390,000 housing units. These vacant units could help to satiate some of the unmet demand for housing in the region if they were returned to the housing market. Considering the fact that former SF Mayor Ed Lee’s housing goals included the production of 30,000 units in five . . .
Url: http://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/uploads/CR_Final_2.3.19.pdf
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Authors: Dow, Paige
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Department: City and Regional Planning
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Housing and Segregation, Other
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