Your coworkers are buying in SF. Should you?
If you're making good money in tech and still renting, you're not falling behind. In many SF neighborhoods, investing your would-be down payment in the stock market leaves you wealthier than buying a condo. This map shows where — and by how much.
Green = buying would make you wealthier. Blue = renting and investing the difference would make you wealthier. Darker colors = bigger gap. Tap any neighborhood for details. How does this work?
Why this matters if you work in SF
- A median SF condo costs roughly $1M+. At 20% down, that's $200K or more tied up in a single asset. That same $200K invested in the stock market — in something like an index fund (a simple investment that tracks the entire US stock market, think: the S&P 500) — has historically grown about 10% per year.
- SF renters pay some of the highest rents in the country, but SF homeowners pay some of the highest hidden costs too: property tax (~$12K/year on a $1M condo), HOA fees, insurance, and maintenance. Those costs don't build equity — they quietly eat into the "owning is better" math.
- San Francisco has rent control for buildings built before 1979. If you're in a rent-controlled unit, your annual increases are capped — which makes the "keep renting, invest the savings" path even more powerful.
Want to plug in your own numbers? Try the full calculator with your actual rent, target home price, and down payment.
About this data
Results use neighborhood average condo purchase prices vs. 1BR rents with estimated HOA fees. All other assumptions (stock return, home appreciation, taxes, etc.) use the main calculator defaults.
This is a simplified comparison tool — not financial advice. Click any neighborhood to explore it in the full calculator with your own numbers.