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Homeowners in San Francisco looking to sell in the troubled city are a whopping four times more likely than the average US home seller to take a loss, according to real estate brokerage Redfin.

Residents looking to get out of the city — where a once-trendy downtown area has descended into a drug-addled hellscape, and historic hotels have been converted into roach-infested “Single-Room Occupancy” housing for vagrants — can expect to sell their San Francisco abode for $100,000 less than they bought it for.

Roughly 12.3% — or one in eight — of the homes sold in the Bay Area during the three months ended July 31 was purchased for less than the seller bought it for, Redfin found.

The figure is a 5% increase from the same period a year ago, is higher than any other major US metropolis and a staggering four times the 3% national rate of homeowners who take a loss when selling their homes, according to the real estate firm.

Detroit is home to the second-highest share of homeowners who take a loss in their home-selling transactions, at 6.9%, followed by Chicago and New York, where 6.5% and 5.9% of homeowners take a loss in selling their homes, respectively.

Though the share of New York homeowners who reported a loss was half that in San Francisco, the cities were tied for the largest median loss in dollars, at $100,000, Redfin found in a separate analysis.

Thus, it’s not a surprise that San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago and New York all rank among the top 10 cities Redfin found residents want to move out of.

San Francisco ranks No. 1, New York No. 2, Chicago No. 5 and Detroit No. 9, according to Redfin.

Across the US, the average homeowner who didn’t profit off of selling their home lost $35,538, according to Redfin, which analyzed Multiple Listing Service data across the top 50 US cities of homes that were owned by the same party for at least nine months before the sale.

States where homeowners were least likely to sell at a loss: San Diego, Boston, Providence, R.I., Kansas City, Mo., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In each of these cities, only about 1% of homes sold for less than the seller originally paid, Redfin reported.

Redfin attributed San Francisco’s unfortunate housing stats to a sharp decline in home prices triggered by high mortgage rates, which climbed to their highest level since 2001 last month.

As of April, the city’s median home price was down over 13% year over year — triple the nationwide slowdown of 4.2% — swiping a whopping $60 billion in the total value of homes since last year.

In addition, home prices in the Bay Area fell because the metro area was hit hard by mass layoffs in the tech sector, Redfin said.

Major tech firms based in San Francisco like Apple, Google, Meta and Salesforce all conducted rounds of layoffs within the past year.

In one of the largest layoffs San Francisco saw in recent months, Meta sacked 21,000 employees as part of Mark Zuckerberg’s so-called “year of efficiency.”

Salesforce also axed some 7,000 staffers — 10% of its workforce — at the beginning of this year after rapid pandemic-era hiring left the company with “too many people” amid an economic slowdown.

And late last year, Elon Musk infamously slashed his staff at Twitter, now known as X, in half, handing nearly 4,000 workers pink slips.

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Entertainment

Sabrina Carpenter hits out at ‘evil and disgusting’ White House video featuring her song

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Sabrina Carpenter hits out at 'evil and disgusting' White House video featuring her song

Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.

“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.

The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.

It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.

President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.

Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.

Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.

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Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.

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In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.

Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.

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Business

Thames Water debt pile rises further despite return to profit

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Thames Water debt pile rises further despite return to profit

Cash-strapped Thames Water has revealed a further rise in its debt pile while recording a return to profit on the back of inflation-busting hikes to bills.

The UK’s largest supplier said the 31% rise to customer bills since April had allowed it to increase capital investment by 22% to £1.3bn amid demands it improve performance in preventing sewage spills and stopping leaks.

Thames Water said it recorded a 20% drop in pollution incidents over the six months to the end of September, and leakage performance was holding steady despite the “extremely dry summer”.

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While waste complaints dipped by 11%, according to the company, there was a 42% surge in the number of customers complaining about the hike to bills.

Thames Water revenue rose 42% on the same period last year to £1.9bn, helping a return to profit after tax of £328m on the back of a £190m loss during April-September 2024.

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The company said profitability was damaged by higher debt serving costs.

Its debt pile was recorded at £17.6bn – a rise of 5%.

The results were released against the backdrop of continuing talks involving the government and regulators over a proposed rescue deal by major Thames Water creditors.

Their consortium is known as London & Valley Water.

It effectively already owns Thames Water under the terms of a financial restructuring agreed early in the summer but regulator Ofwat is yet to give its verdict on whether the consortium can run the company, averting the prospect of it being placed in a special administration regime.

Without a deal the consortium, which includes investment heavyweights Elliott Management and BlackRock, would be wiped out.

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Ofwat, which is to be scrapped under a shake-up of industry oversight, has been leading scrutiny of London & Valley’s operational plan and proposed capital structure.

The prospective deal would write off billions of pounds of the company’s debt and inject billions in fresh equity, in return for an adjustment in the regulator’s approach to future financial penalties.

Thames sees the creditors’ proposal as the only viable solution.

Despite huge hikes to household bills – allowed across England and Wales to bolster aging infrastructure including storm overflows – the company says its financial turnaround has been hampered by record fines for things like sewage leaks and bonuses to retain key staff.

Sky News revealed on Tuesday that its remuneration committee will meet next week to decide whether to proceed with nearly £2.5m in retention payments to 21 senior managers.

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Thames Water chief executive Chris Weston said the company had made good progress on its operational and transformation targets.

“This progress has all been achieved as we also manage the recapitalisation of the business. We continue to work closely with stakeholders to secure a market-led solution that we believe is in the best interests of our customers and the environment.

“This in turn will allow the transformation of Thames to continue, a programme that will take at least a decade to complete and will restore the infrastructure and operations of the company.”

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Business

FIFA backs away from dynamic pricing for all World Cup 2026 tickets

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FIFA backs away from dynamic pricing for all World Cup 2026 tickets

FIFA has backed away from using dynamic pricing for all 2026 World Cup tickets amid concerns about the cost of attending the tournament in North America.

The organisers insisted they always planned to ring-fence tickets at set prices to follow your own team.

But the announcement comes just days ahead of Friday’s tournament draw in Washington DC, which Donald Trump plans to attend.

Fans will have to wait until Saturday to know exactly where and when their teams will be playing in next summer’s tournament.

Scotland will be one of the teams in the tournament, held in North America and Mexico
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Scotland will be one of the teams in the tournament, held in North America and Mexico

Variable pricing – fluctuating based on demand – has never been used at a World Cup before, raising concerns about affordability.

England and Scotland fans have been sharing images in recent days of ticket website images highlighting cost worries.

But world football’s governing body said in a statement to Sky News: “FIFA can confirm ringfenced allocations are being set aside for specific fan categories, as has been the case at previous FIFA World Cups. These allocations will be set at a fixed price for the duration of the next ticket sales phase.

“The ringfenced allocations include tickets reserved for supporters of the Participating Member Associations (PMAs), who will be allocated 8% of the tickets for each match in which they take part, including all conditional knockout stage matches.”

FIFA says the cheapest tickets are from $60 (£45) in the group stage. But the most expensive tickets for the final are $6,730 (£5,094).

There will also be a sales window after the draw from 11 December to 13 January when ticket applications will be based on a fixed price for those buying in the random selection draw.

It is the biggest World Cup with 104 matches after the event was expanded from 32 to 48 teams. There are also three host nations for the first time – with Canada and Mexico the junior partners.

The tournament mascots as seen in Mexico in October. Pic: Reuters
Image:
The tournament mascots as seen in Mexico in October. Pic: Reuters

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FIFA defended using fluctuating pricing.

“The pricing model adopted for FIFA World Cup 26 reflects the existing market practice for major entertainment and sporting events within our hosts on a daily basis, soccer included,” FIFA’s statement continued.

“This is also a reflection of the treatment of the secondary market for tickets, which has a distinct legal treatment than in many other parts of the world. We are focused on ensuring fair access to our game for existing but also prospective fans.”

The statement addressed the concerns being raised about fans being priced out of attending.

FIFA said: “Stadium category maps do not reflect the number of tickets available in a given category but rather present default seating locations.

“FIFA resale fees are aligned with North American industry trends across various sports and entertainment sectors.”

Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales could also still qualify.

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