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Comment by jaredsohn | Hacker News Reader

>The rental market in SF is definitely turning towards the buyer.

Am I misunderstanding something? If rents are going down (like you suggest in your story) wouldn't that mean that the rental market in SF is turning toward the renter?

Edit: Thanks for the clarification. Terminology can be confusing since there can be buyers/sellers for the renting homes market and buyers/sellers for the buying homes market.

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He's classifying the landlord and renter in this transaction as seller and buyer (of the lease), respectively.

A "buyer's market" is good for people who haven't bought yet but want to.

A "seller's market" is good for existing owners who want to sell.

No, it would be turning toward (as in, in favour of) the buyer.

If it was turning toward the seller it would be fast to rent at a higher price (best situation for seller), yet he is describing the opposite, where buyers have plenty of time, choice, and more purchasing power.

In real estate, you are correct. A buyer's market in real estate means a good time to buy a house. A seller's market is a good time to sell a house. A renter's market is a good time to rent. I've heard different terms for landlords, usually an investor's market or a landlord's market when rents are high.

Saying the market is turning to the buyer in real estate, implies it's a good time to buy a house, and renting is comparatively expensive to a mortgage.

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