Only in certain buildings within the cities of San Francisco and Berkeley. All of the newer mid- and high-rise buildings downtown are not subject to rent control (and there are a lot of them), and it doesn't exist anywhere else in the Bay Area. The advertised listings are market-priced units.
No. They are asking prices of units that have not yet rented.
In a hot market - which sadly used to exist - advertising like that was the last resort.