San Francisco’s housing market continued to heat up in March as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom generated new wealth and high-paying jobs, according to a report from Redfin.

The real estate brokerage said on Thursday that the median home sale price in the San Francisco metropolitan area jumped 14.4 percent year over year in March to a record $1.7 million, marking the biggest increase since March 2018.

Redfin said the gain was also the largest among the nation’s 50 most populous metro areas. It now identifies San Francisco as the major U.S. metro with the highest home prices, overtaking neighboring San Jose, which held that title for much of 2024 and 2025.

Experts attributed the surge in part to the concentration of AI companies in the area and the broader return to in-office work. Industry leaders Anthropic and OpenAI, as examples, together occupy more than 2 million square feet of office space in San Francisco, while hundreds of startups have clustered in the Financial District and South of Market neighborhoods.

Those startups have brought in a wave of young tech workers with large signing bonuses, Redfin said. Many are now considering home purchases as they earn more and begin thinking about starting families, boosting demand and making it harder for buyers outside the tech industry to compete.

“A lot of 22-year-olds are getting $500,000 signing bonuses from AI companies, and they’re excited to buy homes,” local Redfin Premier agent Ali Mafi said in a release.

“Inventory isn’t keeping up—sellers have been hearing that if they wait to sell, they’ll get a better deal,“ he continued. ”But suddenly, the time to sell is now. We’re seeing quality homes in desirable areas get 20 offers and go for as much as $900,000 over the asking price.”

The typical San Francisco home that sold in March went for 8.9 percent above its final list price, the largest March premium since 2022, according to Redfin. By comparison, the typical U.S. home sold for 1.3 percent below its final list price, the biggest March discount since 2020.

The trend echoes observations by real estate brokerage Compass, which said earlier this month in its own report that San Francisco’s housing market reached unprecedented heights in March. According to Compass, the city’s median home price hit a record $2.15 million, up 18 percent from a year earlier and above the previous peak set in April 2022.

Beyond the AI-driven surge in demand, a shortage of listings has also added to the upward pressure on prices. According to Compass, the number of homes listed for sale in San Francisco fell 28 percent from March 2025.

“Generally speaking, inventory levels in most Bay Area real estate markets are very low, but San Francisco’s supply of houses for sale is staggeringly low relative to its population,” the report read. It noted that Napa County, despite having just 16 percent of San Francisco’s population, had more houses on the market.

“With demand increasing in the city, this is putting immense pressure on house prices,” Compass said.

Both Redfin and Compass said condos are seeing particularly strong appreciation, with median condo prices climbing back to their prior peaks.