Dropbox handing over 25% of San Francisco HQ back to landlord as commercial real estate softens::San Francisco is seeing its highest office vacancy rate since at least 2007 as Dropbox and other companies allow employees to work from home

  • protist@mander.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    94
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I say this as a homeowner who has seen a 150% increase in my home’s valuation over 8 years…hopefully commercial and residential real estate prices across the board are in for a drop. Home ownership was totally within reach for my wife and I in 2015, but anyone in a similar financial place today is SOL

    • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      42
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      200+% over 10 years, refid in 2019 or so.

      Feel like I won the lottery.

      It’s not fucking sustainable and it’s cruel to anyone younger.

      • glockenspiel@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yep. Heck, it is rough even for those of us who won the housing lottery. If we ever want to move it means paying incredibly inflated prices (even with big gains on the sales of our own homes) and now crazy rates. Probably why prices haven’t really come down: few are selling. Golden handcuffs.

    • Lifecoach5000@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      It’s really out of control these days. I feel like I will get priced out of this place eventually with the property taxes skyrocking to extreme levels. Ready for things to be taken down a notch

    • Nommer@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      I feel very lucky I was able to purchase in 2015 at a good price and interest rate. Looking at prices now I’d never be able to afford a home. It’s absolutely insane this is even a problem.

    • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      All you commentors fortunate enough to buy I house… I envy you.

      Finally got a well enough paying job in 2019. Watched the housing market 2-3x. I feel hopeless.

    • Tygr@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Commercial space is abundantly available which is why that market is soft. Residential listings is at historic lows and only slightly increasing. You’d need to see a massive swell of listings to see residential property values crash. Only way we’d see that is if rates get to where it makes sense for borrowers to trade in their 3% mortgages.

      • protist@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        At some point, there will be more large-scale conversions of commercial space into residential with the market so lopsided. It’s already happening in some places

        • Tygr@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Most commercial projects physically cannot be converted. You’d have to strip out the whole building and reconfigure it for plumbing and electrical to exist in smaller units (condos).

          I’ve spoken to developers about this before (I’m a mortgage lender that works with builders) and for them, it’d be easier to demo some of these buildings and rebuild them as residential so it’d have all the amenities tenants want.

    • The Dark Lord ☑️
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      If you treat commercial real estate as any other investment, you want to sell when it’s high. I don’t understand all these companies doubling down on Return to Office, just to have their commercial real estate value plummet later. Dropbox has it right. Get rid of it now.