Rent has plunged by 11% in San Francisco, 8.5% in New York and keeps dropping in major US cities as employees who can work from home flee to cheaper suburbs that struggled to find tenants before the pandemic

New York City and San Francisco rents have plunged by around 10 percent as a rise in working from home has sent Silicon Valley workers to cheaper areas and more than 12,000 potential renters have fled the Big Apple.  

Stark analysis from RealPage revealed the biggest changes in effective asking rents, factoring in concessions from landlords, across different metro areas between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020.  

Rent has plummeted in high-cost cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston as many residents fled their expensive apartments and moved to the outskirts in the height of the pandemic.  

Though some have returned, many renters have packed up for good as they lost jobs in the tourism, entertainment and restaurant industries that used to be the lifeblood of the cities. 

Meanwhile millions of office workers continue to work remotely so many renters are setting up permanent roots in lower cost areas where they can enjoy cheaper rent and bigger homes while doing their jobs from home. 

This has meant areas that were less popular in pre-pandemic times have seen a surge in rent with a rise in demand for homes in the likes of Riverside, Sacramento and Memphis driving up prices in the areas.   

New York City and San Francisco rents have plunged as a rise in working from home has sent Silicon Valley workers to cheaper areas and more than 12,000 renters fleeing the Big Apple

Stark analysis from RealPage revealed the biggest changes in effective asking rents, factoring in concessions from landlords, across different metro areas between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020

The RealPage data showed rent in San Francisco has been hardest-hit by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, plummeting by a staggering 11 percent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same time last year.   

This has been driven in part by an exodus of Silicon Valley workers out of the notoriously expensive Bay Area as several of the tech giants have extended their remote working policies until at least 2021.  

Facebook and Google announced all staff can work from home until July 2021 while Twitter said staff may work remotely indefinitely, meaning workers have upped sticks and relocated to cheaper areas.  

New York City rent has also taken a tumble by 8.5 percent, as residents fled the Big Apple when it became the virus epicenter of the world.

Rich New Yorkers fled in their droves during the pandemic and with many offices yet to reopen, many are staying away for the foreseeable future. 

Separate research from CBRE showed that only 10 percent of Manhattan's two million office workers have yet returned to their offices. 

This is having a knock-on effect on other industries such as bars and restaurants, which with a smaller customer base - and restrictions rumbling on over indoor dining - have been forced to let some staff go.

Rent has plummeted in high-cost cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston as many fled their apartments and moved to the outskirts in the height of the pandemic

The tourism industry has also been hammered by international travel restrictions from the Trump administration and the famous theater district Broadway is not opening until 2021.

People who moved to the city to pursue careers in these industries are leaving for cheaper rent elsewhere. 

Almost 12,000 more people moved out of New York than moved in during the third quarter, RealPage data showed - the biggest exodus of all places across the US. 

This marked a dismal change from the same time last year when 10,000 more moved to the city than left. 

San Jose also recorded a large fall in rent by 10.3 percent, while Boston rent fell 5.1 percent, LA 4.7 percent, Oakland 4.4 percent and DC 2.8 percent. 

Meanwhile, areas that were less popular before the pandemic have fallen into favor sending the cost of rent soaring in these places. 

The biggest spike in rent occurred in California's Inland Empire, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where effective asking rents increased by 4.4 percent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same time in 2019. 

Areas that were less popular in pre-pandemic times have seen a surge in annual effective rent as demand for homes in the likes of Riverside, Sacramento and Memphis is on the rise

Workers have flocked to the area for jobs after several distribution warehouses were set up outside LA.  

Rent also rose by 3.7 percent in Sacramento, 3.5 percent in Virginia Beach, 3 percent in Phoenix and 2.4 percent in Detroit.

Researchers at RealPage said the shift was a sign that industries cities rely upon have been some of the most devastated by the pandemic while so-called slow-and-steady markets have become more attractive places to live for remote workers.

'If you don't have very many hospitality workers, your economy may have done reasonably well,' Greg Willett, chief economist at RealPage, told Bloomberg. 

'They're bread and butter, usually slow-growth markets. And slow growth looks good relative to what we see everywhere else.'