Scott Budman

#New: Bay Area rent (median 1BR):

San Francisco: $3,630*
Palo Alto: $3,450**
Mtn View: $3,220
Sunnyvale: $3,030
Santa Clara: $2,870
Redwood City: $2,760
San Jose: $2,510
Berkeley: $2,200
Oakland: $1,980

*up 15.6% in one year
**up 16.2% in one year

Source: Zumper

#Breaking: President Trump just directed every Federal agency in the US Government to stop using Anthropic technology.

Thank you!!!

#New:
In Silicon Valley:

Average tech wages reached $189,000 in 2025.

Richest 10% hold 75% of liquid wealth; bottom half holds less than 1%.

More than one-quarter of households cannot meet basic needs.

Median home costs $2 million.

-Joint Venture Silicon Valley

#Breaking: FedEx is suing the U.S. seeking full refund of the Trump tariffs.

Is this the first domino to fall?

#New: 30-year fixed mortgage is now at 5.99%.

#Breaking: Dow futures down 260, Bitcoin down $4,000 on new Trump tariffs.
$BTC

#New: Rent burden:

In the San Francisco Bay Area, half of renter households spend at least 30% of their income on rent, and one quarter spend more than half.

That’s the highest number in the nation.

Source: ApartmentList

The times we live in:

The Judge in the social media addition trial just threatened to hold anyone recording the Mark Zuckerberg testimony with AI glasses in contempt of court.

The typical American homebuyer payed 4% less than the asking price last year.

But ..

In San Francisco, the average price payed was 4% ABOVE asking price.

In San Jose, 2.3% above asking price.

In Oakland, 1.3% above asking price.

Source: Redfin

#New: A minimum annual income of $213,200 is needed in California to afford the $5,330 monthly payment.

In San Mateo County, the minimum income is $507,600.
(Avg monthly payment: $12,690)

In Santa Clara County, $470,800.

In San Francisco County, $441,200.

Source: Cal Assn of Realtors

Billboards in San Francisco promoting ICE during Super Bowl week:
“Defensive Player Of The Year.”

#New: Rent in the Bay Area (median 1BR):

San Francisco: $3,670
Palo Alto: $3,250
Mtn View: $3,220
Redwood City: $2,940
Sunnyvale: $2,930
Santa Clara: $2,920
San Jose: $2,620
Fremont: $2,390
Berkeley: $2,170
Oakland: $1,980

Source: Zumper

#New: Neil Young says he'll give residents of Greenland free access to his music catalog.

From Young:
“I hope my music and music films will ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government."

Gold and silver prices are both now at record highs.

Gold just topped $5,000/oz for the first time.

Hahaha. True!

#New: Least affordable cities (home affordability) in the world:

1. San Jose
2. Los Angeles
3. Long Beach
4. San Diego
5. Vancouver
6. Paris
7. Porto (Portugal)
8. New York
9. Miami
10. San Francisco

-Remitly

#New: Elizabeth Holmes has formally asked President Trump to release her from prison early.

Her release is currently set for December 2031.

Actually, Somalia is a country.

#New: California Attorney General Rob Bonta says he is opening an investigation into the proliferation of nonconsensual sexually explicit material produced using Grok, the AI model developed by xAI.

I interviewed Scott Adams several times; first about Dilbert and Silicon Valley, then about his books on life.

By the time of his move to controversial views, he was mostly declining interviews, saying he’d get his views out via his podcast.

#New: What it costs to rent the median 1 BR apartment in:

San Francisco: $3,500*
Mountain View: $3,190
Redwood City: $3,090
Palo Alto: $3,070
Sunnyvale: $2,960
Santa Clara: $2,900
San Mateo: $2,810
San Jose: $2,690
Oakland: $1,950

*Up 15% in one year

-Zumper

Annual income needed to buy a median priced home in:

San Mateo County:
$524,000

Santa Clara County:
$482,400

San Francisco County:
$409,600

Source: CA Assn of Realtors

#New: Zillow looked at 364 US cities, and found 350 of them where houses, on average, sell below the asking price.

But ..

Not so for Silicon Valley.

-San Francisco: 16% above asking price, on average.

-San Jose: 11.4% above asking price.

#New: How long it takes to save for a typical down payment on a home in:

San Francisco: 36.5 years
San Jose: 36.2 years
Los Angeles: 34 years
San Diego: 30 years
New York: 23.4 years
Seattle: 22.6 years

Source: realtor.com

#New: Waymo again pauses its driverless taxi service in San Francisco, this time citing flash flood warnings.

#Update: Waymo: “We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area due to the widespread power outage.”

#New: 34% of renters say they do not believe the American Dream includes owning a home - a new high.

Source: Zumper

#New: The White House says the Kennedy Center will be re-named the "Trump-Kennedy Center."

The Center’s board of trustees, appointed by President Trump in April, voted to change the name.