My point is that the major factor in the pricing of San Francisco housing is that it is one of the most desirable housing markets in the USA. With or without rent control, prices would be high because it is a relatively small city where a whole lot of people want to live.
SF has a land area of 121 km², and a population density of 6,324.4/km². (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_francisco)
Here is a list of cities with higher population densities:
Delhi 26,276
Kolkata 24,760
Chennai 24,418
Mumbai 22,658
Bangalore 22,426
Hyderabad 21,293
Ahmedabad 19,979
Seoul 17,213
Tokyo 13,682
Wuhan 12,868
Jakarta 12,738
New York City 10,452
Tehran 10,260
Moscow 9,644
Lima 8,544
Yokohama 8,182
Lagos 7,938
São Paulo 7,148
With or without rent control, prices would be high because
If not because of rent-control laws, why does San Francisco supply not follow San Francisco demand? Did you read the William Tucker paper, linked above, that explains why?
My point is that the major factor in the pricing of San Francisco housing is that it is one of the most desirable housing markets in the USA. With or without rent control, prices would be high because it is a relatively small city where a whole lot of people want to live.