Delta Variant Stalls the Financial Restoration in San Francisco

To quote a new report from the Office of the Controller and Economic Analysis in San Francisco, “the advent of the delta variant has stalled aspects of the city’s economic recovery,” with a decrease in the time residents spent outside their homes to have; another drop in office visits; and a decline in sentiment among small businesses and new business registrations that were half the pre-COVID-19 average in the past month.

While the average speed of movement on local highways has increased again during evening commute times, it is still below pre-Covid levels, due to lower use of public transport compared to underlying employment growth.

And as we outlined last week, while the weighted average asking rent for an apartment in the city has increased, the implied vacancy rate in the city has actually increased rather than decreased over the past few weeks, reversing a six-month decrease in inventory. We’ll keep you up to date and stay tuned.