NEWS. >> LUCY, THANK YOU. THERE'S ALSO BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO EXODUS. WELL, THAT IS APPARENTLY OVER. >> THE CITY'S POPULATION GREW SLIGHTLY LAST YEAR. ABC SEVEN NEWS REPORTER SUZANNE PHAN HAS THE DETAILS, INCLUDING WHY IT WILL STILL TAKE A WHILE FOR THE CITY TO RECOVER. SUZANNE. >> SO, KRISTEN. LARRY. IN OCTOBER 2022, CENSUS NUMBERS WERE RELEASED, THEN REVEALED THAT SAN FRANCISCO LOST MORE THAN 6% OF ITS POPULATION, 55,000 PEOPLE MOVED OUT OF THE CITY IN A SINGLE YEAR DURING THE PANDEMIC, BUT THE LATEST CENSUS NUMBERS SHOW THAT SAN FRANCISCO IS MAKING A COMEBACK. NEW CENSUS NUMBERS SHOW PEOPLE ARE COMING BACK TO SAN FRANCISCO. THE EXODUS IN THE WAKE OF THE PANDEMIC IS OVER. >> I THINK THE PANDEMIC HAS REALLY CHANGED A LOT OF PEOPLE'S LIVES, SO I'M GLAD THEY'RE COMING BACK. I THINK THAT'S WONDERFUL. >> ACCORDING TO CENSUS BUREAU DATA, SAN FRANCISCO'S POPULATION IS UP GROWING BETWEEN JULY 2022 AND 2023 BY ABOUT 1200 PEOPLE TO JUST UNDER 809,000. THAT'S AN INCREASE OF 0.15. I'M A LITTLE SURPRISED AT THE NUMBER, THE REBOUND FOLLOWING A BIG DROP IN 2021, SHOWN HERE WITH THE LIGHT BLUE LINE AS A CHEF, A LOT OF MY FRIENDS HAD LEFT STATEWIDE. CALIFORNIA LOST MORE THAN 75,000 PEOPLE FROM 2022 TO 2023, BUT THINGS ARE STARTING TO TURN AROUND, SAYS CHEF DANNY MERCER, A SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENT. >> I JUST STARTED GETTING THE PHONE CALLS, ASKING IF I KNOW OF ANYBODY WITH JOBS AVAILABLE IN OUR INDUSTRY AGAIN, WHICH IS HUGE FOR US. >> WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN TAHOE. A LOT OF PEOPLE WENT TO TAHOE. THEY WEREN'T PREPARED FOR YEAR ROUND LIFE IN TAHOE. SO I'M NOT SURPRISED THAT PEOPLE WANT TO COME BACK. >> THE PANDEMIC ALLOWED PEOPLE TO WORK REMOTELY AND IN PLACES THAT WERE A LOT LESS EXPENSIVE, BUT THAT'S NOW CHANGING, SAYS THE PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA. >> NOW EMPLOYERS ARE BEING A LITTLE BIT FUSSIER IN SOME CASES ABOUT PEOPLE SHOWING UP IN PERSON AT LEAST A FEW DAYS A WEEK. AND I THINK THAT'S DRAWING PEOPLE BACK TO CALIFORNIA BECAUSE THE DYNAMIC AND HIGH PAYING JOBS, ESPECIALLY IN THE BAY AREA, ARE STILL HERE. >> THE BAY AREA IS ALSO SEEING A RESURGENCE. >> THE BAY AREA IN GENERAL, ACTUALLY, IT'S NOT JUST SAN FRANCISCO HAS SEEN SOMETHING OF A TURNAROUND. WE HAVE SOME NEW DYNAMIC INDUSTRIES LIKE I THAT ARE DRAWING PEOPLE BACK TO THE STATE. >> KEVIN HO, A REAL ESTATE BROKER IN SAN FRANCISCO WITH VANGUARD PROPERTIES, SAYS THINGS HAVE DEFINITELY IMPROVED. >> WE HAVE A LOT OF SELLERS WHO HAVE PREVIOUSLY WOULD HAVE LEFT THE CITY. NOW THEY'RE UPGRADING AND STAYING IN THE CITY, BUYING BIGGER AND BETTER HOMES. WE HAVE CLIENTS WHO ARE LOCATING AND RELOCATING BACK TO THE BAY AREA. WE HAD A COUPLE JUST CLOSED ON AN ICONIC PROPERTY MOVING HERE FROM MIAMI, AN EXPERTS SAY SAN FRANCISCO IS IN RECOVERY MODE. >> THEY SAY SAN FRANCISCO NEEDS TO BUILD MORE HOUSING AND MAKE HOUSING MORE AFFORDABLE FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO STAY. MEANWHILE, KEVIN HO, THE REAL ESTATE BROKER WE TALKED TO, SAYS HE'S SEEING BIG CROWDS DURING OPEN HOUSE ON SUNDAYS. AND HE SAYS LISTINGS ARE SELLING IN LESS THAN A WEEK IN THE NEWSROOM
