Is San Francisco, CA a good place to invest in real estate?

Real data from the LumosTerra engine, snapshot as of 2026-10-29. Every number below comes from the same tables the market pages use - no estimates are invented.

The market at a glance

	Median home value (tracked areas)	$1,606,476
	Appreciation, last 3 years	14.5%
	Appreciation, last 5 years	5.5%
	Appreciation, last 10 years	40.4%
	Active for-sale listings	1,717
	List price range	$15,000 - $58,000,000

The short-term rental picture

Top tracked annual revenue	$464,275
Top tracked occupancy	78.7%
Top tracked daily rate	$2,362

Short-term numbers swing by property type and season - pull a specific address for the property-level picture.

Local rules

No ordinance record cached for San Francisco yet - check with the local authority before relying on any assumption.

What the community is saying

Short-term rental snapshot: where the tracked revenue leads

Jump in at the LumosTerra forum - every answer there comes with the engine data attached.

Compare with nearby markets

Newport Beach, CA - 51.9% 5-year appreciation
Huntington Beach, CA - 51.6% 5-year appreciation
Irvine, CA - 51.1% 5-year appreciation
Fullerton, CA - 47.6% 5-year appreciation
Carlsbad, CA - 42.9% 5-year appreciation
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - 42.5% 5-year appreciation

Go deeper

Market finder - scan all 1,756 tracked areas
Market compare - side-by-side numbers
Investment calculators - BRRRR, cashflow, fix and flip
Forum - real investors, real answers, real numbers

All figures are engine estimates from the LumosTerra tracked-data snapshot as of 2026-10-29. They are starting points, not recommendations - verify rents, comps and local rules before acting on any of them.

Best places to invest in real estate · Real estate investing forum · Pricing