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Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Image 2 of 29 At 20th and Valencia, you can rent this 1-BR with $0 down (with good credit). Source: Craigslist At 20th and Valencia, you can rent this 1-BR with $0 down (with good credit). Source: Craigslist Image 3 of 29 Valencia kitchen and W/D. Source: Craigslist Valencia kitchen and W/D. Source: Craigslist Image 4 of 29 Bedroom at Valencia-- PS: Pets okay!! Source: Craigslist Bedroom at Valencia-- PS: Pets okay!! Source: Craigslist Image 5 of 29 Image 6 of 29 Bath, Valencia. Source: Craigslist Bath, Valencia. Source: Craigslist Image 7 of 29 Image 8 of 29 Image 9 of 29 pac Heights kitchen/view. Source: Craigslist pac Heights kitchen/view. Source: Craigslist Image 10 of 29 Image 11 of 29 Pac Heights bedroom. Source: Craigslist Pac Heights bedroom. Source: Craigslist Image 12 of 29 Pac Heights patio. Source: Craigslist Pac Heights patio. Source: Craigslist Image 13 of 29 Pac Heights location. Source: Craigslist Pac Heights location. Source: Craigslist Image 14 of 29 Image 15 of 29 Image 16 of 29 Though just 486 square feet, this Post Street apartment comes with bling like this outdoor area. Source: Craigslist Though just 486 square feet, this Post Street apartment comes with bling like this outdoor area. Source: Craigslist Image 17 of 29 Post St. kitchen. Source: Craigslist Post St. kitchen. Source: Craigslist Image 18 of 29 Post St. living room. Source: Craigslist Post St. living room. Source: Craigslist Image 19 of 29 Post St. Jr. 1-BR layout. Source: Craigslist Post St. Jr. 1-BR layout. Source: Craigslist Image 20 of 29 Image 21 of 29 Image 22 of 29 Inside the Polk apartment. Note: $0 deposit to good credit is a sign of softening market. Source: Craigslist Inside the Polk apartment. Note: $0 deposit to good credit is a sign of softening market. Source: Craigslist Image 23 of 29 So much gleaming wood on Polk. Pets welcome! Source: Craigslist So much gleaming wood on Polk. Pets welcome! Source: Craigslist Image 24 of 29 Polk kitchen. Source: Craigslist Polk kitchen. Source: Craigslist Image 25 of 29 Image 26 of 29 Polk bedroom. Source: Craigslist Polk bedroom. Source: Craigslist Image 27 of 29 Polk bath. Source: Craigslist Polk bath. Source: Craigslist Image 28 of 29 The national rent landscape, per Zumper The national rent landscape, per Zumper Image 29 of 29 SF rent down year over year for second month in a row. Here's what the median rent buys you 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

The news: Year-over-year, San Francisco rents are down.

This fact seems uncontested, and is in itself a novel phenomenon worthy of report. The confusion starts when we try to pinpoint exactly how far rent has come down.

The biggest projection comes from Zumper’s rent report for April. Though overall, the Zumper National Rent Index showed one bedroom median rent increasing 1.92 percent nationally to $1,164 and two bedroom median rents rising 1.84 percent nationally to $1,377 this month, the annual performance of many famously expensive cities was not an increased rent, but a decreased one.

Month to month, “the price of one bedroom units in San Francisco grew a slight 1.5 percent to a median of $3,320, while two bedroom units fell 1.6 percent to $4,430. [However] since this time last year, prices are down 7.5 percent for one bedrooms and 8.7 percent for two bedrooms” in San Francisco.

That percentage is a striking one, but not confirmed.

Competitor report

RENTCafe rent reports also show an annual decrease in S.F. rents, but a more modest one. The average U.S. apartment rent increased by $6 in March, reaching $1,312 according to RENTCafe’s Yardi Matrix.

RENTCafe data show 84 percent of the country’s rentals got more expensive in March of this year: 210 cities out 250 surveyed “saw annual rent growth last month. Rents decreased in 12 cities, and flat-lined in 28 cities.” Again California takes high rent honors, hosting twelve of the top 20 cities experiencing higher rents. But the biggest increases are in Lancaster and Stockton (#1 and 2 respectively). Modesto also jumped impressively.

San Francisco, meanwhile, “saw the biggest year-over-year rent drop in the nation for March, decreasing 4.3 percent over the year.” Rent Café posits that this is the second month in a row that San Francisco has had the nation’s biggest year-over-year drop in rent prices. Interestingly, four other Bay Area cities made this decreased year-over-year rent list: Fremont, Santa Clara, Oakland and Sunnyvale.

Rent Café methodology, per their own website, is not a complete picture of renting in the Bay:

“RENTCafé’s research team analyzed rent data across the 250 largest cities in the US. The report is exclusively based on apartment data related to buildings containing 50 or more units.” It should also be noted that only market-rate properties make it into the study.

Same city, different data

When asked about the discrepancy, Zumper responded:

Our professional tool, Zumper Pro, is used by landlords and brokers to post directly to our platform. These listings are then syndicated to our “network” that include listings from websites like Realtor.com, among others. In major cities, hundreds of agents and brokers post to us directly, meaning a large percentage of the total market originates through our platform before anyone else….We have hundreds of listing feeds that provide comprehensive national coverage and feel comfortable with the numbers we report.

Either way, rents are down annually

Together, Zumper and RENTCafe data make a more complete picture of the S.F. rental market than either do separately, so perhaps the actual number is somewhere between the two projections, In any case, the fact that rents are down, not up, is news in and of itself.

Above is a gallery of what your $3,320 one bedroom median rent buys you in San Francisco. Apparently, it buys a little bit more than it could a year ago.

Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Follow Anna on Twit ter: @AnnaMarieErwert