Lyft, Pinterest, Uber, Zoom, Slack, and more--what do all of these have in common? They are all tech IPOs and they are moving into the San Francisco Bay Area. Marketplace reported that the Bay Area is famous because of its inclusion among a real estate list that tabulated the most expensive real estate in the Bay Area.
Employees working in these places stand to make the most out of their investments. However, in a place like the Bay Area, what will they do with a home price that averages $830,000? A discussion of analysts centered around data that is collected by brokerage services, and what it appears to be hinting at, in a place like the Bay Area.
Housing prices in San Francisco actually declined by 0.1% last month, signaling the first time house prices dropped in such a fashion since 2012. The nature of acceptance, however, is largely pessimistic, seeing as this might be the last time such a decline could be seen, or at least, the next time it could be seen is 7 years into the future.
The Atlantic covered how the tech IPOs has changed the economic landscape of the Bay Area. Mostly internet-based companies now dominate the neighborhood, which was--according to Shoshana Zuboff--a "behavioral surplus" or the natural resource which was created solely based on a person's behavior.
The working class in the area remained classified among the poor, where most have been confined to RV communities. Homeless encampments also dot the neighborhood. It is in stark contrast to the major tech surge it experienced when tech companies--this time including Airbnb, Instacart, Palantir, and Postmates--moved their offices into the area.
San Francisco has been deemed a 'town that apps built' but it is suffering from an extremely low housing supply. Of all the properties here, only 5,471 changed hands while a majority of400,000 housing units either remain unbought or are owned by long-time owners. Bay Area has a problem which tech IPO unknowingly created.
The tech economy has been great. Twitter and Facebook, two of Bay Area's longest 'residents', has reported strong earnings during the week, while Apple largely shrugged off low iPhone sales. The tech companies will remain fine. However, in a city that's increasingly alienating what's supposed to be its biggest asset--people--, it doesn't look fine at all.
