Who Is Buying San Francisco’s Luxury Condos & Why?

Who Is Buying San Francisco’s Luxury Condos & Why? 

A report just published by 48HillsOnline analyzed the SF Assessor’s Office owner mailing records for 23 condo buildings comprising 5212 units, most built in the last 10 years and/or qualifying for the description “luxury real estate.” It found that 39% of owner mailing addresses were not those of the property, with percentages over 50% for ultra-prestige buildings such as the St. Regis, Four Seasons and Millennium – some of the most expensive real estate west of Manhattan. The article’s basic thesis is that building condos for the rich to use as second or third homes does virtually nothing to alleviate the city’s shortage of housing. Without agreeing with their conclusion, the analysis does confirm an interesting insight, i.e. the city is increasingly becoming a destination for wealth, as well as a location for the creation of new wealth.

As to the article’s anti-development case: First of all, 61% of owners appear to be owner-occupiers – working professionals, empty nesters, famous ballplayers and so on - and are clearly helping to address local home-buyer demand. Of the 39% with different mailing addresses, there may be a number of explanations: 1) units are indeed being used as second homes or pied e terres by the ultra-affluent who like to visit the city (and spend money in the local economy), 2) the units are being used as investments by local or, often, foreign buyers: to buy and hold, as long-term rental properties (which help alleviate the housing shortage), or as short-term Airbnb type rentals (which don’t), and 3) units are being occupied by dependents, such as children attending college. It’s also possible some mailing addresses are for services handling financial matters for owners.

Additionally, it’s true that developers of these condo projects, under city law, must build a certain number of affordable housing units or contribute funds to do so. Last but not least, the sale and ownership of these high-end condos contribute huge sums to the county’s transfer tax and property tax revenues, which help support city services.

Where Home Sales Occur at What Prices

Where Home Sales Occur at What Prices

These 2 charts illustrate where the greatest quantity of house and condo sales occur in San Francisco. House sales are dominated by the districts running along the southwest and south borders of the city, from Sunset-Parkside down to Ingleside and across to Excelsior, Portola and Bayview. These areas are also among the most affordable in the city. With 25% of sales, the South Beach-SoMa-Mission Bay district has the biggest concentration of condo sales: Virtually the only place where high-rise, high-density projects can be built in the city, the latest to begin selling is the ultra-luxury, 656-unit Lumina development. Realtor district 5, the greater Noe-Eureka-Cole Valleys area, sees a large number of both house and condo sales: This area has appreciated ferociously since the early 1990’s.

Note that the median sales prices delineated on these charts combine neighborhoods of differing values and are generalities for the larger areas described.

Besides the neighborhoods in the chart above, the Lake Street, Sea Cliff and Jordan Park area had 35 house sales in the past year and a median sales price of $3,000,000 over the past six months, and Potrero Hill had 34 house sales and a median price of $1,460,000.

San Francisco House and Condo Values

San Francisco House & Condo ValuesWhich Neighborhoods Dominate Home Sales? Who Is Buying the City’s Luxury Condos and Why?

October 2014 3rd Quarter Report

September saw the largest surge of new listings coming on market in the past 2 years, which led to a big jump in deal-making, but data on transactions negotiated in September won’t be available until most close escrow in October and early November. In the meantime, we’ll look at the last 2 quarters.

Median Sales Prices & Average Dollar per Square Foot The following 2 charts look at current and longer-term trends in home values. As is common, median house sales prices dropped a bit in the 3rd quarter – this is due mostly to seasonality issues – though condos have held steady for 3 quarters now at $950,000. Dollar per square foot values have continued to increase to new peaks: This metric is particularly being impacted by new-development condo sales, which are breaking dollar per square foot records virtually everyplace they’re being built.

If you wish to drill down on values in very specific city neighborhoods, we recently updated our interactive map, which can be found here: SF Home Price Map

Long-term Trends in SF Home Values

Selected Neighborhood Snapshots

Long-term Trends in San Francisco Home Values

Please call or email if you’d like information on a different neighborhood. We’ve analyzed dozens of neighborhoods around the city.

And, last but not least, as the Napa earthquake reminded us, it makes supreme good sense to make basic precautionary preparations to safeguard against possible natural disasters: Being Prepared

All data from sources deemed reliable, but may contain errors and is subject to revision. Every time one looks at median or average sales prices, even for slightly different periods, the price will typically change. Statistics are generalities and how they apply to any specific property is unknown without a tailored comparative market analysis. All numbers should be considered approximate. Please contact us with any questions or concerns.

San Francisco Neighborhood Home Prices

SF Neighborhood Home Prices

We recently issued our semi-annual breakdown of San Francisco home sales by neighborhood, property type and bedroom count.

Note: The surge in expensive, new-condo construction sales in various areas, such as Hayes Valley, Potrero Hill, Inner Mission and the Market Street and Van Ness Avenue corridors, is significantly affecting (raising) the average and median values in those neighborhoods.

These statistics apply only to home sales with at least 1 car parking. Homes without parking typically sell at a significant discount. Below Market Rate (BMR) condos were excluded from the analysis.

As noted on the tables, the average size of homes vary widely by neighborhood. Besides affluence, the era and style of construction often play a large role in these size disparities. Some neighborhoods are well known for having “bonus” bedrooms and baths built without permit (often behind the garage). Such additions can add value, but being unpermitted are not reflected in square footage and $/sq.ft. figures.

If a price is followed by a “k” it references thousands of dollars; if followed by an “m”, it signifies millions of dollars. Sales unreported to MLS are not included in this analysis, and where abnormal “outliers” were identified that significantly distorted the statistics, these were deleted as well. N/A signifies that there wasn’t enough reliable data to generate the statistic.

The Median Sales Price is that price at which half the properties sold for more and half for less. It may be affected by “unusual” events or by changes in inventory and buying trends, as well as by changes in value. The median sale price for an area will often conceal a wide variety of sales prices in the underlying individual sales. Average sales prices may be distorted by one or two sales significantly higher or lower than the normal range. All numbers should be considered approximate.

Dollar per Square Foot is based upon the home’s interior living space and does not include garages, storage, unfinished attics and basements; rooms and apartments built without permit; decks, patios or yards. These figures are typically derived from appraisals or tax records, but can be unreliable, measured in different ways, or unreported altogether: thus consider square footage and $/sq.ft. figures to be very general approximations. Size and $/sq.ft. values were only calculated on listings that provided square footage figures. All things being equal, a house will have a higher dollar per square foot than a condo (because of land value), a condo’s will be higher than a TIC (quality of title), and a TIC’s higher than a multi-unit building’s (quality of use). All things being equal, a smaller home will have a higher $/sq.ft. than a larger one.

Many aspects of value cannot be adequately reflected in general statistics: curb appeal, age, condition, views, amenities, outdoor space, “bonus” rooms, parking, quality of location within the neighborhood, and so forth. Thus, how these statistics apply to any particular home is unknown without a specific comparative market analysis. Data is from sources deemed reliable, but may contain errors and is subject to revision.

These links below can be used to access other real estate reports and articles.

Seasonality and the SF Real Estate Market

Seasonality & the SF Real Estate Market

In August we completed an analysis of how seasonality affects inventory, buyer demand and median sales prices. These 2 charts illustrate its effect on listings accepting offers and prices. Please note that other factors besides changes in values can affect median price fluctuations. For the complete report: Seasonality & Real Estate

San Francisco Home Sales by Property Type and Price Range

San Francisco Home Sales by Property Type & Price Range

Unlike the vast majority of other counties, condos and condo-like homes such as co-ops and TICs now predominate in the SF homes market, a trend that will only accelerate as dozens of (expensive) new-condo projects come on line in coming years. The difference in median sales prices between houses and condos has also narrowed to less than 12% - when condos used to be the significantly cheaper alternative. Condos also play a huge role in luxury home sales, often selling for the highest dollar per square foot figures in the city. TIC sales, almost an exclusively SF phenomenon, have been dwindling, but now sometimes command prices in excess of $1,500,000.

The relatively small quantity - and declining percentage of sales - of house listings in San Francisco has put significant competitive pressure on house prices. This effect has been cascading through the city's neighborhoods, from most desirable to historically less desirable, as families search for affordable options in a rapidly appreciating market. Very, very few new houses are being built in the city and those that are, are typically very costly.

Autumn Selling Season Begins

Autumn Selling Season Begins & New Listings Surge in San Francisco

Coming out of the summer slowdown, the last big sales season of the year runs from early September to mid-November (when the market usually retreats into semi-hibernation until mid-January). September is typically the single month with the highest number of new listings and this year, it started out with a bang: 300 new listings hit the market in the first week after Labor Day. As a point of comparison, May, the biggest new-listing month YTD, had a total of 720.

A list of San Francisco's most recent listings can be found here, easily sortable by neighborhood, property type and price: New Home Listings

This year's summer slowdown was bigger than usual: Compared to 2013, the number of listings coming on market dropped 12% and the number of sales fell 16% - these are large drops. Median sales prices also declined significantly from the spring peak, but summer price drops are normal due to seasonal factors. We've found it difficult and risky to make confident assessments of market trends during the summer or winter holiday slowdowns: One really has to see what happens in spring and autumn when sellers and buyers jump back in.

San Francisco, California & United States Markets

This chart compares Months Supply of Inventory (MSI) – a measurement of buyer demand against the supply of homes for sale; median Days on Market (DOM) – how quickly new listings go into contract; and median home sales prices, for the city, state and country. Typically, an MSI under 3 to 4 months is considered a seller’s market; at an average of 1.5 months of inventory over the summer, San Francisco would typically be considered an extreme seller’s market (which puts upward pressure on prices). San Francisco’s median days-on-market figure is also extraordinarily low, and of course, our home prices are significantly higher than most places on the planet.

Not shown on the chart, but another dramatic indicator of market conditions: Over the last 3 months the average SF home sale closed for 7% over the original asking price. (It hit 10% in May at the height of the spring frenzy.)

What Should I Offer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzR2XEWv-A You've found a home you really like and you're ready to take the next step but what should you offer?

I've put together a few things I think are important to consider as you prepare your offer.

Sales Prices Over and Under List Price

Sales Prices Over & Under List Price

Believe it or not, this next chart, which shows an incredible percentage of San Francisco home sales selling for more, and often much more, than asking price, actually indicates a small cooling from May’s market. In May, 7% of homes sold went through price reductions before sale; in July, price reductions went up to 11%. In May, the percentage of homes selling for 20% or more over list price was 29%; in July, that dropped to 24%. In May, 8% sold more than 1% under list price; in July, it was 12%. Most of July’s sales went into contract in June and if the market is cooling further, which is not unusual in mid-summer, it won’t show up in the statistics until later.

Biggest Home Sales of 2014 (So Far...) by Neighborhood

Biggest Home Sales of 2014 YTD, by Neighborhood

These two charts of the most expensive house and condo sales so far this year are not comprehensive, but simply snapshots of highest home prices achieved in a selection of neighborhoods around the city. One can't help loving the idea that the biggest SF home sale reported to MLS so far in 2014, at $11 million, was marketed as having "tremendous potential."

Mortgage Interest Rates

Mortgage Interest Rates

Interest rates, whose movements are famously difficult to predict, have for the time being remained very low – an important dynamic in the real estate market as people compare the costs of renting and buying.

Shifts in the San Francisco Luxury Home Market

Shifts in the San Francisco Luxury Home Market

20 years ago, “San Francisco luxury home” referred to real estate in the northern band of old-prestige neighborhoods running from Sea Cliff/ Lake Street/ Jordan Park through the Pacific Heights/ Marina district, to Russian, Nob & Telegraph Hills (plus a few smaller enclaves like St. Francis Wood and Ashbury Heights). Those neighborhoods are still known for large, beautiful, expensive homes and, indeed, still dominate the ultra high-end. But other districts have developed footprints in the luxury market due to changing tastes and demographics, to the high-tech boom creating new centers of gravity for wealth (and changing commuting patterns), and to the formation of entirely new SF neighborhoods.

The general Noe, Eureka and Cole Valleys district (much of which was originally blue-collar neighborhoods) is now one of the most sought after areas of the city, and its prices have blown through the roof – more houses over $2 million now sell here than in all the prestige northern neighborhoods combined. In the South Beach, Yerba Buena and Mission Bay area, some of the most expensive condo buildings in the country have risen from formerly B-class commercial-industrial wastelands. And most recently, new $1000+ per square foot condo buildings are beginning to pop up in places like the Mission, Hayes Valley and the Market Street corridor, catering to new, young, high-tech buyers.

These two charts show the shifts that have occurred just in the past 7 years.

Where to Buy a Home Under $1 Million

Buying a Home for under $1 Million 

There has been a lot of chatter in the media recently about the median home price in San Francisco hitting $1,000,000. Here’s a look at the neighborhoods where one is most likely to find something under that price.

If one wishes to buy a house for less than a million dollars, choices are definitely shrinking with the recent, huge surge of appreciation – approximately 50% over the past 2.5 years. Neighborhoods like Bernal Heights, Miraloma Park and the Richmond district are quickly dropping off the list of options. The largest selection of affordable houses is now in the neighborhoods running along the western and southern borders of the city.

Looking for a condo or TIC under $1 million opens up a completely different and much wider array of neighborhood options in San Francisco. Needless to say, what one can buy at a particular price point may vary tremendously between neighborhoods.

2 Tips for Home Buyers Today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKav8JrB110 It's a tough market out there for buyers, but there can be great opportunities if you know what to look for.  I've put a few tips together to help buyers in today's market.

Luxury Homes in Review

San Francisco Luxury Home Sales & PricesContinue to Climb Past Previous Peaks

July 2014 Update with 8 Custom Charts and Tables

The luxury segment of San Francisco’s real estate market was the last to peak, in 2008, while most other housing segments started to lose steam in 2006-2007. After the financial markets crash in September 2008, the city’s high-end home market generally lost the least value on a percentage basis, 15-20%, as compared to the 20-60% drops seen elsewhere. Then it was the first to recover in late 2011/early 2012. Now, SF luxury home values have accelerated well past the previous peak values of 6 years ago. The factors include the increasing strength of the Bay Area economy; the huge, local surge in high-tech and affiliated wealth; an increase in well-heeled foreign buyers; and the fact that the highly affluent have, by far, profited most from the recent, tremendous appreciation in stocks and other financial assets.

The net result: There is an enormous amount of new and old money sloshing around the Bay Area looking for homes to buy. Luxury homes in San Francisco are typically defined as condos, co-ops and TICs selling for $1,500,000 and above, and houses selling for $2,000,000 or more. These are relatively arbitrary thresholds since $2,000,000 might buy a small-ish, fixer-upper house in Pacific Heights or a large, gracious home in another neighborhood. It is also true that the significant appreciation since 2011 has simply moved more sales into the “luxury” price category, which at current trends will soon require reassessment.

Adjusting your screen-view to zoom 125% or 150% will make the charts that much easier to read. A San Francisco neighborhood map can be found at the bottom of this report.

San Francisco Luxury Home Sales by Quarter & by YearThe number of SF luxury home sales in the 2nd quarter of 2014 was more than twice the number sold in the 2nd quarters of 2007 or 2008 before the market crash. Luxury condo sales in particular are skyrocketing.

San Francisco High-End Home Sales by Neighborhood

Luxury house sales in San Francisco are dominated by the swath of established, prestige, northern neighborhoods running from Sea Cliff and Lake Street through Pacific & Presidio Heights and Cow Hollow; by the greater Noe-Eureka-Cole Valleys district (which has seen explosive growth in this market segment since the mid-nineties); and, to a lesser extent, the smaller neighborhoods around St. Francis Wood and Forest Hill.

High-end condo sales have now overtaken luxury house sales in the city because of all the new-condo construction which occurred over the past 10-15 years – and this building frenzy, which lapsed in the 4 years after the market crash, is accelerating once again. (Very few new houses are built in SF anymore, though the ones that are built, are typically quite expensive.) Besides the older Pacific Heights-Marina and Russian & Nob Hills districts, and the greater Noe-Eureka Valleys district, the newer neighborhoods of South Beach, Yerba Buena and Mission Bay have a rapidly growing footprint in luxury condo sales. And just very recently, high-priced, high-tech, condo buildings are being constructed in areas such as the Mission, Hayes Valley, and the Market Street and Van Ness corridors that were not previously considered luxury-home locations.

The first chart is for house sales, and the second is for condo, co-op and TIC sales.

Average Dollar per Square Foot Values for SF Luxury HomesAverage dollar per square foot is a very general statistic and how it applies to any particular home is unknown without a specific analysis, but this chart below gives an idea of the extraordinary values now being achieved by San Francisco luxury properties in different neighborhoods of the city. Luxury Home Sales With & Without Price Reductions:

Sales Price to Original List Price Percentage & Average Days on Market

For the sake of simplicity, this chart looks at all SF home sales of $2,000,000 and above in the 2nd quarter of 2014. The 88% of these listings that sold without price reductions averaged a sales price 9% over asking price, with a very low average days-on-market of 26 days. These statistics are an indication of a very high-demand market. But not every home sold quickly: Listings that were price reduced averaged a sales price 12% below original price and spent 2.5 months longer on the market. And then 35 listings expired without selling, typically due to being perceived as overpriced. Even in a red hot market, one can overprice one's home - and doing so will severely impact the market response.

San Francisco's Most Expensive Condo Buildings

Here one can see the effect of new, high-rise buildings such as the Four Seasons, the Millennium and the Infinity Towers, all located in the greater South Beach-Yerba Buena area, on the high-end condo market in the city. However, note that this list ranks only the largest condo buildings and since many of the condos in the older neighborhoods are in much smaller buildings, they won't show up here even though they have extremely high values as well. Besides location, premium services and expensive amenities, probably the most common element of  luxury condos in San Francisco is spectacular views, which can add hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to the sales price. (The city's most expensive condo sale ever - a penthouse at the St. Regis - closed for $28m in 2011.)

House Values in the Prestige Northern Neighborhoods of San Francisco

This table includes neighborhoods of varying home values, but still gives a fair representation of high-end home-price trends over the past 20 years. Average sales prices and dollar per square foot values have blown past their previous peaks of 2007-2008.

Other neighborhoods besides the "Prestige Northern Neighborhoods" now feature significant luxury home markets. More details on those districts can be found in our Neighborhood Values section of our website, the link to which is at the top left of this webpage. Paragon is one of the top 4 brokerages in San Francisco for luxury home sales and has the highest Closed-to-List ratio of any of the city's major luxury property firms. 

For your convenience, below is a map of San Francisco neighborhoods and a breakdown of neighborhoods in each Realtor district.

SAN FRANCISCO REALTOR DISTRICTS

District 1 (Northwest): Sea Cliff, Lake Street, Richmond (Inner, Central, Outer), Jordan Park/Laurel Heights, Lone Mountain

District 2 (West): Sunset & Parkside (Inner, Central, Outer), Golden Gate Heights

District 3 (Southwest): Lake Shore, Lakeside, Merced Manor, Merced Heights, Ingleside, Ingleside Heights, Oceanview

District 4 (Central SW): St. Francis Wood, Forest Hill, West Portal, Forest Knolls, Diamond Heights, Midtown Terrace, Miraloma Park, Sunnyside, Balboa Terrace, Ingleside Terrace, Mt. Davidson Manor, Sherwood Forest, Monterey Heights, Westwood Highlands

District 5 (Central): Noe Valley, Eureka Valley/Dolores Heights (Castro, Liberty Hill), Cole Valley, Glen Park, Corona Heights, Clarendon Heights, Ashbury Heights, Buena Vista Park, Haight Ashbury, Duboce Triangle, Twin Peaks, Mission Dolores, Parnassus Heights

District 6 (Central North): Hayes Valley, North of Panhandle (NOPA), Alamo Square, Western Addition, Anza Vista, Lower Pacific Heights

District 7 (North): Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, Cow Hollow, Marina

District 8 (Northeast): Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Telegraph Hill, North Beach, Financial District, North Waterfront, Downtown, Van Ness/ Civic Center, Tenderloin

District 9 (East): SoMa, South Beach, Mission Bay, Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Bernal Heights, Inner Mission, Yerba Buena

District 10 (Southeast): Bayview, Bayview Heights, Excelsior, Portola, Visitacion Valley, Silver Terrace, Mission Terrace, Crocker Amazon, Outer Mission

Some Realtor districts contain neighborhoods that are relatively homogeneous in general home values, such as districts 5 and 7, and others contain neighborhoods of wildly different values, such as district 8 which, for example, includes both Russian Hill and the Tenderloin.

All data from sources deemed reliable, but may contain errors and is subject to revision. Statistics are generalities and how they apply to any specific property is unknown without a tailored comparative market analysis. All numbers should be considered approximate.© 2014 Paragon Real Estate Group

10 Factors Behind the SF Real Estate Market

Supply, Demand, Money and Demographics

10 Factors Behind San Francisco’s Real Estate Market

July 2014

This chart is a simplified, smoothed-out and approximate look at the last few real estate cycles in San Francisco, illustrating estimated percentage changes in home prices from successive peaks and bottoms of the market. The years between these high/low points are simply depicted here as straight lines (which does not reflect reality). Different market segments have experienced varying appreciation and depreciation rates over the years and how this chart applies to any specific property is unknown without a tailored analysis.

Why is San Francisco’s housing market so hot, so competitive? It’s worthwhile to take a step back and consider the main factors at play, some of which reflect general macro-economic trends and some of which are specific to the city itself:

• Population growth: San Francisco has recently been adding approximately 10,000 new residents per year and new home construction has not come close to adding enough additional housing units to meet increase demand. (And more would move here if they could find a place to live.) New construction is booming again in the city, but it will be a while before enough new units arrive (to rent or to buy) to substantially change the existing high-demand/low-supply dynamic.

• Employment growth: San Francisco now has the highest number of employed residents in its history and job numbers continue to grow as new companies start up and existing ones expand. Many of these new jobs are very well paid.

• Surging stock market: The S&P 500 is up over 50% since 2011 began. The affluent have benefited most from the recent, large increase in the value of financial assets, and San Francisco has one of the most affluent populations in the country. When people feel wealthier, they spend more on homes, second homes and real estate investment properties.

• Brand new wealth: Thousands of newly affluent residents – including significant numbers of millionaires and even billionaires – have been created in the Bay Area in recent years from stock options, IPOs and company sales. This is super-charging the “wealth effect” on the market.

• High rents: Purchasing a home in San Francisco, with the attendant tax benefits and equity accrual (as well as the possibility of future appreciation), often makes compelling financial sense if the alternative is to pay an extraordinarily high rent.

• Low interest rates: from 1996 to 2006, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate loan was approximately 6.3%. As of early July 2014, it was 4.1%. That 35% reduction in the cost of financing makes an enormous difference in affordability and the ongoing cost of housing.

• Renting instead of selling: High rents and low interest rates have convinced some owners who would have sold their homes to rent them out instead. The Airbnb rent-to-tourists option is probably adding to this. This further depresses the supply of new listings coming on market, exacerbating the inventory shortage: 2013 to 2014 for the 1st half, the number of new MLS listings is down 7.5%, when higher prices would typically be expected to increase it. (If considering this option, see Renting vs. Selling in San Francisco.)

• Work there, live here: A relatively recent development, many of the people working or taking new jobs in Silicon Valley high-tech and bio-tech now insist on living in the city. The “Google bus” phenomenon is just one illustration of a trend which puts considerable additional pressure on our housing market.

• Magnet effect: San Francisco, a small city of 7 by 7 miles, is now the capital of perhaps the fastest growing, most lucrative, highest-prestige business segment. It is also in one of the most beautiful, best educated, most tolerant and culturally rich metropolitan areas in the world. That makes the city a magnet for smart, creative, ambitious people from all over the planet and they are willing to pay a premium to live here.

• Limited supply: Almost two thirds of the city’s housing is in rental units, much of it under rent control. The number of homes suitable for owner-occupancy and available to purchase each year is relatively small: As an example, the SF homes market is less than half the size of the markets in either Alameda or Contra Costa counties.

Huge demand + surging wealth + severely inadequate supply = today's San Francisco real estate market. None of this implies justification for an ever-appreciating real estate market: Almost all these factors can stall or even go into reverse. Real estate and financial markets are prone to a wide variety of extremely complex and hard-to-predict economic and political factors – and they typically go in cycles: up, down, flat, up again (repeat). And economic and market fluctuations are not uncommon within cycle phases. Still, these are, we believe, the fundamental realities underpinning the city’s homes market now.

San Francisco’s real estate market is now about 2 ½ years into its latest recovery. In the last few cycles, recoveries have typically lasted 5 to 7 years before a significant market adjustment, but, of course, the past is no guarantee of the future.

All data from sources deemed reliable, but may contain errors and is subject to revision.© 2014 Paragon Real Estate Group

Prices Cycles and Trends in SF Real Estate

Prices Cycles and Trends in SF Real Estate

Of Seasons, Factors, Prices, Cycles & Trends in San Francisco Real Estate

July 2014 Mid-Year Market Report by Paragon Real Estate Group

After perhaps the most frenzied market since the gold rush this past spring, in this mid-year report, we’ll step back and look at the San Francisco homes market from a variety of angles. The market typically slows during the summer months due to vacations, family stuff and buyers being exhausted by the spring market. None of which necessarily means that summer might not be a good time to act, since whether buying or selling, one’s competition lessens during these months before the market picks up again in mid-September.

Springtime Market Dynamics   Why has spring seen such ferocious markets these past few years? Buyers have been jumping aggressively back into the market much earlier in the year and in much greater numbers than sellers, creating a fierce high-demand/low-supply dynamic that fosters competitive bidding. This chart tracks the median house sales price by quarter.Though there is no doubt that this past spring saw significant jumps in home values, median sales prices are also affected by other factors besides straightforward increases in value, such as seasonality, inventory available to purchase, interest rates and surges in new construction sales and luxury home sales. (See the luxury sales chart later in this report.) -------------------------------------------------------------------Market CyclesThis chart is a simplified, smoothed-out and very approximate look at real estate cycles in San Francisco, illustrating estimated percentage changes in home prices from peak to bottom to peak. The years between these high/low points are depicted here as straight lines, which does not reflect the bumpy reality. This is from our article on underlying factors behind current market conditions (recently featured in the Chronicle business column, "The Bottom Line"): Supply, Demand, Money and Demographics And as a comparison to the simplified overview above, below is a look at actual average dollar-per-square-foot house values over the last 20 years in the northern Pacific Heights-Marina District of San Francisco. This very expensive area fell less in value than the city as a whole after the 2008 financial markets crash, and since the recovery began has surged well above its previous peak values of 2007. -------------------------------------------------------------------

Sales Prices above List Prices

The large majority of SF home sales this past spring sold quickly, without price reductions and for over asking price. This chart breaks down, by neighborhood, the average percentage over list price those homes sold for: Historically speaking, these are astounding percentages. This statistic will also be affected if large numbers of agents adopt a strategy of underpricing their listings to artificially boost demand. Note that the South Beach-Yerba Buena-Mission Bay district has by far the most listings and sales in the city, and that relative abundance of inventory affects this statistic.

And this chart is an overview of San Francisco's trend on a month by month basis. -------------------------------------------------------------------

Median Prices by Neighborhood

Comparative values for 3-4 bedroom houses and 2-bedroom condos with parking.

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San Francisco Luxury Home Market

This last spring saw the highest volume of SF luxury home sales in history. We just updated our report on this market segment, which was featured on KGO Radio and the front page of the Chronicle’s business section. Below are 2 charts, but the full report can be found here: Luxury Home Report

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Average Dollar per Square Foot

Comparative dollar per square foot values by neighborhood and property type.

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District Home Sales by Price Range

These are 2 of 14 charts in a full analysis of San Francisco home sales by price range, property type and neighborhood, which gives an idea of the actual sales behind overall median sales prices. The full report is here: District Sales Breakdowns

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Months Supply of Inventory, Average Days on Market & Inventory-Level Trends

Several standard statistical measures of market strength have hit historically low points in the past few months. (Low points = extremely high demand coupled with extremely low supply, which is the classic cause of rising prices.)

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Trends in Home Sales by Property Type

Comparing the percentage make-up of San Francisco home sales – house, condo, co-op, TIC and multi-unit properties – between 2008 and 2014: condo sales are way up due to extensive new construction over the past 10-15 years, house sales (as a percentage of total sales) are somewhat down as very few new houses are built in the city, and TIC sales are way down due to political and financing issues.

Neighborhood Map & Realtor Districts

For your convenience, below is a map of San Francisco neighborhoods and a breakdown of neighborhoods in each Realtor district.

SAN FRANCISCO REALTOR DISTRICTS

District 1 (Northwest): Sea Cliff, Lake Street, Richmond (Inner, Central, Outer), Jordan Park/Laurel Heights, Lone Mountain

District 2 (West): Sunset & Parkside (Inner, Central, Outer), Golden Gate Heights

District 3 (Southwest): Lake Shore, Lakeside, Merced Manor, Merced Heights, Ingleside, Ingleside Heights, Oceanview

District 4 (Central SW): St. Francis Wood, Forest Hill, West Portal, Forest Knolls, Diamond Heights, Midtown Terrace, Miraloma Park, Sunnyside, Balboa Terrace, Ingleside Terrace, Mt. Davidson Manor, Sherwood Forest, Monterey Heights, Westwood Highlands

District 5 (Central): Noe Valley, Eureka Valley/Dolores Heights (Castro, Liberty Hill), Cole Valley, Glen Park, Corona Heights, Clarendon Heights, Ashbury Heights, Buena Vista Park, Haight Ashbury, Duboce Triangle, Twin Peaks, Mission Dolores, Parnassus Heights

District 6 (Central North): Hayes Valley, North of Panhandle (NOPA), Alamo Square, Western Addition, Anza Vista, Lower Pacific Heights

District 7 (North): Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, Cow Hollow, Marina

District 8 (Northeast): Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Telegraph Hill, North Beach, Financial District, North Waterfront, Downtown, Van Ness/ Civic Center, Tenderloin

District 9 (East): SoMa, South Beach, Mission Bay, Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Bernal Heights, Inner Mission, Yerba Buena

District 10 (Southeast): Bayview, Bayview Heights, Excelsior, Portola, Visitacion Valley, Silver Terrace, Mission Terrace, Crocker Amazon, Outer Mission

Some Realtor districts contain neighborhoods that are relatively homogeneous in general home values, such as districts 5 and 7, and others contain neighborhoods of wildly different values, such as district 8 which, for example, includes both Russian Hill and the Tenderloin.

All data from sources deemed reliable, but may contain errors and is subject to revision. Statistics are generalities and how they apply to any specific property is unknown without a tailored comparative market analysis. Outlier sales that would distort the statistics were deleted from the analysis when identified. All numbers should be considered approximate.© 2014 Paragon Real Estate Group

San Francisco Farmer's Markets

Home Sales by District and Price

Home Sales by San Francisco District and Price

These charts show the breakdown of San Francisco home sales as reported to the city’s Multiple Listing Service in 2014 by 6/25/14. These analyses are sorted by city districts and neighborhoods by the number of transactions in different sales-price segments. Some of the districts contain neighborhoods and homes of widely varying values.

Whether you are considering a home purchase within a certain price range or contemplating the sale of your property in a certain neighborhood, this may give you a sense of what sells for how much where in San Francisco. The first chart is an overview for the entire city.

If you adjust your view to Zoom 125%, the charts will be that much easier to read.

These 3 charts below track San Francisco luxury home sales by price range and neighborhood in 2013. Rather arbitrarily, we designate the luxury segment as those condos, co-ops and TICs selling for $1,500,00 or more, and those houses selling for $2,000,000 and above. 

These statistics are based upon sales reported to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). All data herein is from sources deemed reliable but may contain errors and is subject to revision. All numbers should be considered approximate.2014 © Paragon Real Estate Group

Sea Cliff, Lake Street, Jordan Park, Laurel Heights, Richmond, Lone Mountain, Anza Vista, Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, Cow Hollow, Marina, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Telegraph Hill, North Beach, Lower Pacific Heights, Civic Center, Financial District, South of Market, SoMa, South Beach, Yerba Buena, Mission Bay, Dogpatch, Potrero Hill, Bernal Heights, Mission, Inner Mission, Outer Mission, Mission Dolores, Dolores Heights, Eureka Valley, Castro, Noe Valley, Cole Valley, Ashbury Heights, Clarendon Heights, Corona Heights, Duboce Triangle, Parnassus Heights, Buena Vista Park, Haight Ashbury, Inner Sunset, Sunset, Parkside, Golden Gate Heights, Glen Park, Twin Peaks, Miraloma Park, Sunnyside, Forest Hill, Forest Knolls, Midtown Terrace, Hayes Valley, NoPa, North of Panhandle, Alamo Square, St Francis Wood, West Portal, Portola, Excelsior, Visitacion Valley, Crocker Amazon, Lakeside, Ingleside, Bayview, Silver Terrace, Diamond Heights, Oceanview, Merced, Balboa Terrace, Monterey Heights, Mount Davidson