The artificial intelligence boom has driven up San Francisco’s median home sales price to a record $2.15 million.
Real estate brokerage firm Compass said that recent transactions showed that some parts of the tech capital have emerged from its doom loop on the back of the surge in AI investment and hiring.
“The economic changes created by the Iran war — such as rising interest rates and financial market volatility — have not affected the extremely heated market dynamics in San Francisco, which are being fueled by the new employment and wealth generated by the AI startup boom,” Compass Chief Market Analyst Patrick Carlisle said in a statement.
The March median home price, up 18% from last year, surpassed the April 2022 peak of $2 million, according to Compass. Median condo sale prices jumped to $1.36 million, up 27% from a year earlier, and slightly below the $1.37 million peak in April 2022.
The new data show how the rise of AI is making it more expensive and competitive to live in San Francisco, home to major tech companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce and Uber.
Companies are requiring workers to return to the office for part of the week as they lease more space throughout the city. Billboards about AI line San Francisco streets and highways.
While tech giants have been laying off workers, they’ve also been investing heavily in technology that could disrupt how people work and socialize. AI-powered tools can generate text, images, code and help with other tasks such as planning and research.
In California, luxury home and condo sales also reached new highs in March. At least 22 houses were sold for more than $5 million and 24 condos were sold for more than $3 million, exceeding the peaks in 2021.
As tech executives grow their wealth, affordability has been a hot-button issue in California, where unions are pushing for a one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaires to fund healthcare and other essential services.
Some billionaires, such as Google co-founder Larry Page and Meta co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, have been snapping up luxury real estate in Florida and other states. In December 2025, Oracle co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison quietly sold his San Francisco home in Pacific Heights for roughly $45 million.
Buying a house in San Francisco also is becoming more competitive. The number of homes listed for sale dropped by 28% compared with March of last year.
“The disconnect between demand and supply continues to pressurize the market as buyers compete for scarce listings,” Carlisle said.
Amid more competition, homebuyers also paid more than the listing price. On average, homes were selling for 23% above the asking price. Houses were on the market for an average of 20 days, according to Compass.
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