After hearing of rent drops in Manhattan, I read about one example of rent dropping in San Francisco:

Until the pandemic hit, the city’s housing market was so tight that would-be renters lined up for viewings and arrived with thousands of dollars in cash, ready to sign a lease on the spot.

But now landlords are hard-up for tenants and some are offering several months free, said Coldwell Banker realtor Nick Chen, who recently rented out a one-bedroom for $3,150 that before would have easily gone for $4,300.

“San Francisco rents have been really inflated over the past couple years,” Chen said. “It will come back, but I think the question is: Will it come back to the level it was at previously? Maybe not.”

This is a sizable drop in rent, roughly 25% in a short time frame. Yet, that is still a price that few Americans across the country could meet. Even with significant changes in social life in cities like San Francisco and New York, this does not mean these places are now accessible to many.

Presumably, there is a bottom floor below which rents will not drop. The person who owns the property has their own bills to pay. Some people will see this as an opportunity to get a place in San Francisco at a lower rent and jump at lower prices.

Or, does COVID-19 shift housing prices in high-priced markets for a longer time? If businesses decide to continue work from home and employees are skittish about being around a lot of people in a dense city, do rents drop even further? Is there an opportunity for developers, buildings owners, housing groups, and local governments to jump in and acquire and/or offer cheaper housing? I would not guess expensive housing markets like San Francisco, Seattle, or Manhattan will soon become reasonable but perhaps there will be some opportunities for more people in the region to take advantage.