Even Billionaires Can’t Rent a Mansion Anymore—Here’s Why the Super-Rich Are Struggling to Find Homes
It might sound like a problem most people can only dream of having, but it’s very real: even billionaires are having trouble renting a place to live.
In cities like San Francisco and New York, luxury real estate agents are seeing an unexpected squeeze at the very top of the market. It’s not about affordability—these clients can easily pay tens of thousands of dollars per month. The problem? There just aren’t enough high-end homes available for rent.
Take Alexander Lurie, for example, a prominent agent in San Francisco and brother to the city’s mayor. Not long ago, he was helping a tech founder—net worth in the billions—find a short-term rental while their main residence was being renovated. The ask was clear: a five- or six-bedroom mansion in the city. The money wasn’t an issue. The supply was.
“In San Francisco, there’s a shortage of large luxury homes for sale—and an even worse shortage when it comes to rentals,” Lurie said. “When a well-maintained, top-tier property hits the market, it’s gone in a flash.” The competition, he noted, is intense.
This shortage is especially pronounced in a city like San Francisco, which spans only 47 square miles but has an unusually high concentration of ultra-wealthy residents. Large rental homes—especially those over 6,000 square feet—are extremely rare and generally limited to elite neighborhoods like Pacific Heights or Sea Cliff. One recent five-bedroom rental in the Marina district, listed at $30,000 a month, was snapped up within 48 hours after receiving multiple offers. Lurie’s client got it—just barely.
On the opposite coast, high-end agents in New York City are seeing similar trends. Jacques Foussard, a luxury broker in Manhattan, recently spent weeks helping a wealthy French client find a $35,000-per-month rental just for the holiday season. “Even when you’re super rich,” Foussard said, “you’re not going to throw money out the window. They want quality—and they want value.”
What exactly are the rich looking for in a rental? It depends on the city, but the wish lists are long. In Manhattan, clients want private garages with discreet entrances, dramatic city views, and hotel-like services that include everything from housekeeping to private jet bookings. In Miami, buyers want saunas, steam rooms, cold plunges, in-building restaurants, and business lounges.
But here’s the catch: these amenities are increasingly hard to come by.
America’s housing crunch has officially reached the 1%. Just as middle-class families struggle to buy homes amid high prices and mortgage rates, the ultra-wealthy are running into their own version of the same issue: an inventory shortage—albeit at a different scale.
The data backs it up. According to RentCafe, between 2019 and 2023, the number of renter households earning over $1 million per year jumped by a staggering 204%. Cities with the most millionaire renters? New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and San Jose.
Why are so many of the wealthy choosing to rent instead of buy? There’s no single answer. Some are unsure about where they want to live long-term. Others are wary of hefty property taxes or simply want the flexibility that renting offers—especially in a world where remote work is here to stay. Some own primary homes in London or Geneva and are only in town for a few months a year. For them, a rental is just a convenient pied-à-terre.
Take Megan Stone, for example—a London-based hedge fund manager who spends winters in New York for work. She rents a chic SoHo duplex with a balcony for $28,000 a month. “Buying doesn’t make sense for me,” she said. “Renting gives me the freedom to change neighborhoods each year and not worry about repairs or upkeep.”
But while demand has surged, supply has not kept up.
In Manhattan, roughly 70% of residential buildings are co-ops, which often prohibit or heavily restrict rentals. Even if a unit allows renting, the application process can be long and bureaucratic, often involving interviews with the board. “And if you’re a celebrity or a high-profile person,” Foussard noted, “they’ll often say no. They don’t want the media attention or extra security that comes with it.”
Out west, the challenge is more physical: San Francisco simply doesn’t have enough land. “You can’t build out. You have to build up,” said Lurie. That’s why his brother, the mayor, is proposing changes to zoning laws to allow taller buildings and more housing across the board—not just at the high end.
The pandemic hasn’t helped either. In Miami, agent Mendel Fellig noted that since 2020, a huge wave of wealthy out-of-state buyers has scooped up homes that might once have been available for rent. “Our inventory for single-family homes is still about half of what it was pre-COVID,” he said. One property he listed for sale in the elite enclave of Pinecrest ended up renting for $60,000 per month—one of the highest ever recorded there.
While this "billionaire problem" might not earn much sympathy, it does reveal a broader issue: the imbalance in America’s housing market doesn’t just affect first-time buyers or working families. It’s starting to ripple up the economic ladder. Even those with seemingly unlimited resources now have to compete fiercely—and sometimes lose out—for a place to call (temporary) home.
Because in today’s market, it’s not just about money. It’s about timing, access, and sometimes just plain luck.