I'm not sure this accurately captures the comparison between Manhattan and SF housing. I'm guessing this figure is an "average cost" but probably heavily skewed by certain downtown neighborhoods. Manhattan is super expensive for sure but I still think the market is substantially better than SF. In NYC you have tons of options as to where to live either within Manhattan or in one of the boroughs, and pretty much everywhere has good transit access to get you downtown reasonably quickly. Yeah, if you try to live in Tribeca you're gonna pay an insane amount for a 1 bedroom, but just go uptown and prices drop off considerably, well below SF prices, and still within quick walking distance to multiple subways. Secondly in NY there's definitely more housing supply: you can go apartment hunting and have a lease signed before the end of the first day. That seems to be how it goes for most people I know here.