San Francisco’s housing market is still suffering, with condos in the Californian city being sold for as little as half their original value.

The city—a magnet for the thriving tech sector—expected a rise in housing demand after rapid developments in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. However, sales on condos, particularly in the downtown area are still making losses, to the point where San Francisco is the only major city in the U.S. in which it is cheaper to live now than it was five years ago.

Public listings for condos in San Francisco show heavy reductions in price, with one unit, previously sold for $1.2 million in 2019, settling at $825,000. That’s a decrease of more than 30 percent.

In one particularly bad example, a condo on Mission Street in the heart of the city was sold for $775,000. In 2015, the same unit was worth $1.4 million, meaning it had lost almost 50 percent of its value in a decade.

Realtor expert Rohin Dhar described the sales as “brutal.” According to his research, San Francisco is the only major urban area where housing costs have gone down. It is 1 percent cheaper to live there now than it was in 2019, while the average American city dweller, it’s 48 percent more expensive.

The decline in condo prices in San Francisco started during the pandemic, as working-from-home initiatives and office closures led to a decline in workers needing to live in the city.

Between 2020 and the start of 2024, the average value of a condo in San Francisco dropped by 12.8 percent, from $1.14 million to just $997,000, according to Zillow, a real-estate marketplace tracker.

Recent developments in the AI industry led many to believe that interest in San Francisco property could recover, as the city remains a vital part of the U.S. tech sector and is a global hub for AI advancements. OpenAI, the producer of the widely-used chatbot ChatGPT, is based there, along with a thriving start-up industry.

Any benefits from this boost are yet to be seen, with condo prices still not recovering to pre-pandemic value. However, changing attitudes to in-person working could help restore the market.

Over two-thirds of professional U.S. companies said that their new job ads will no longer have the option of fully remote work this year, indicating a return to the office in 2025 that could herald the same demand for San Francisco housing that raised values so much in the first place.

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California and 11 other states were awaiting permission for the ambitious measure, which Biden is set to give in one of his final acts during the lame-duck period, two people briefed on the matter told the New York Times. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly signaled his opposition to the measure, setting up a legal battle for the second administration.

One-quarter of vehicles bought in California are electric, the highest in any state, yet still far behind the aimed-for 100% in a decade. Trump has vowed to terminate the mandate to fully transition to electric cars.

“California has imposed the most ridiculous car regulations anywhere in the world, with mandates to move to all-electric cars,” Trump said. “I will terminate that.”

The New York Times reported that Trump is expected to revoke Biden’s permission on the first days of his presidency. The matter will likely then go to the courts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been trying to move forward with the ban for the last four years. He signed an executive order in 2020 and the California Air Resources Board voted on the regulation two years later.

Initially, the rules were set to let California start phasing out gasoline-powered cars beginning as early as 2026, when the state could require 35% of new cars sold be zero-emission vehicles. The percentage required would ramp up to 68% in 2030 before completely phasing them out by 2035.

“It’s ambitious, it’s innovative, it’s the action we must take if we’re serious about leaving this planet better off for future generations,” Newsom said in 2022. “California will continue to lead the revolution towards our zero-emission transportation future.”  

California has consistently ranked as the state with the most polluted air in the country. Since 1970, it has been allowed to try and improve its air quality by enacting stricter rules and regulations regarding clean air standards than what the federal government says is required.

Other states occasionally followed California’s lead on air quality standards, creating a patchwork system of rules that could lead to legal fights.

Then-Gov. Ralph Northam promised Virginia would mimic California’s move to phase out the sale of new gas-powered cars. However, when Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) and Republicans won control of the state, he reversed the move.

California is no stranger to legal battles with Trump, having sued the first Trump administration more than 100 times.

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Newsom has touted climate measures pushed by him and the Democratic-controlled legislature as major accomplishments.

“California has long led the nation in pioneering climate policies and innovation,” he said earlier this year. “Those efforts will continue for years to come.”

A winter storm will bring heavy snow to high elevations in the Sierra Nevada this weekend, with some parts of northern California expecting as much as 60 inches of snow.

The incoming storm has prompted numerous National Weather Service (NWS) alerts, ranging from winter storm warnings to wind advisories. The system comes several weeks after a slew of atmospheric rivers brought heavy snow and rain across California in late November, though the Golden State has been mostly dry since.

The weekend storm is the second in a series of back-to-back storms forecast to hit California every few days up until Christmas, meteorologists said.

According to snowfall maps shared by NWS offices in California, northeastern California is expecting the heaviest snow with the incoming system at anywhere from 48 to 60 inches in high elevations of Lassen National Park. Donner Peak could see up to 24 inches, as well as Ebbetts Pass and Sonora Pass.

“A stronger, wetter system will move into the area Friday through Saturday. Here’s a look at the forecast rainfall and snowfall totals you can expect from this weather system,” the NWS office in Sacramento posted on X, formerly Twitter, with a map of the areas expecting to get hit hardest.

NWS lead meteorologist Nathan Rick told Newsweek that most of the precipitation would move out of the area by Saturday night, with Sunday looking “mostly dry.”

Further south, up to 12 inches of snow is forecast for Yosemite Valley, with up to 11 inches hitting Mammoth Lakes.

“Another winter storm will moving through Central California will provide the Sierra Nevada with additional snowfall accumulation starting late tonight,” the NWS office in Hanford posted on X. “Expected 24 hour snowfall accumulation will range from 6 to more than 24 inches across Sierra Nevada.”

Both offices have winter storm warnings in place advising residents of heavy snow.

“Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact commutes. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches,” the NWS office in Sacramento said. “Persons should delay travel if possible. If travel is absolutely necessary, drive with extreme caution and be prepared for sudden changes in visibility. Consider taking a winter storm kit along with you and anything else that would help you survive in case you become stranded.”

AccuWeather meteorologists previously voiced concerns that the incoming system could become a bomb cyclone.

A bomb cyclone occurs when storm pressure drops quickly, strengthening the disturbance and ramping up wind gusts. Atmospheric rivers are a “long, narrow region in the atmosphere—like rivers in the sky—that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.