San Francisco offers $5K Airbnb gift cards; city has highest rent increase in U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Housing Authority has a new plan in its effort to evict dozens of people living illegally in a public housing project in Potrero Hill.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports the agency is offering them $5,000 Airbnb gift cards if they agree to pack up and leave their homes.
However, an attorney representing those residents says $5,000 would barely cover a few weeks at most San Francisco Airbnbs.
And the lawyer's clients are expected to reject the city's offer.
Meanwhile, San Francisco saw the highest year-over-year rent increase in the country, according to ApartmentList.com.
The city's median rent is now about $3,040 a month.
That's an 11.5% increase in the last year, and the highest rent has been in San Francisco since April 2020.
Economists say return-to-office policies, the Artifical Intelligence boom, and low supply of rental units, are the biggest reasons rents are increasing.