‘Absolutely bananas’: San Francisco homes sell for $1m above asking price amid AI boom

The fmous Painted Ladies homes in San Francisco, in this 2024 picture. Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The fmous Painted Ladies homes in San Francisco, in this 2024 picture. Photograph: Ethan Swope/Getty Images ‘Absolutely bananas’: San Francisco homes sell for $1m above asking price amid AI boom Report finds widespread overbidding as rapid AI growth generates increased wealth in city where housing is scarce San Francisco’s AI boom has buyers spending unprecedented amounts of money on homes – much more than sellers are asking for. A new analysis from real-estate brokerage Compass, found that in the first half of 2026, more than 140 homes in the city sold for at least $1m above their asking price, 44 of them in June alone. The figure is a huge jump from January through July of last year, in which only eight homes sold for more than $1m, according to Compass data. Just six homes sold above that amount in the first six months of 2024. The skyrocketing demand for homes in this price range is “absolutely BANANAS”, according to Mike Simonsen, Compass’s chief economist. Simonsen has previously explained that the widespread overbidding was “of course related to the AI boom. It’s migration and hiring, as well as preparing for mega IPOs.” OpenAI and Anthropic , both headquartered in San Francisco, have filed to go public on the US stock market at valuations approaching $1tn. Their debuts promise to mint a new class of multimillionaires in San Francisco, which is already home to the highest concentration of billionaires per capita in the world. AI wealth boom sending San Francisco home prices surging: ‘It’s ridiculous’ Read more San Francisco’s single-family home prices have risen about 17% year over year, while inventory has plummeted roughly 45%, according to Compass’s market intelligence report published last month. The single-family median home price has increased from $1.7m to $2.2m, and houses are getting snapped up at an average of 18 days on the market, the fastest pace in five years. The sky-high sales in San Francisco’s housing market marks a shift from a few years ago when departures as well as concerns about crime and homelessness contributed to a slump . Compass’s report noted that in San Francisco, “AI and tech-driven demand has created aggressive bidding wars on the scarce inventory” and that “skyrocketing rents are back in the norm”. Simonsen explained that the resurgent demand is so far concentrated “to a very small section in the city, and luxury markets in Peninsula and Marin”. The report describes a “housing market increasingly segmented by income tier and proximity to AI-driven employment centers”. San Francisco stands out as having the highest median home price in the country, according to a May 2026 analysis from real estate firm Redfin. Simonsen also said it was notable that other tech hubs across the country have not seen a similar trend of overbidding. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter pr