The sale last week of the 2BR/2BA condo at 3721 21st Street in Liberty Hill was a good example of what’s happening in San Francisco at the moment. On the market for just under two weeks, the $1,249,000 property went into contract and closed at its asking price. Whether or not there was a lot of negotiation or haggling isn’t the point; the fact is that the seller commanded a nice price for a 2BR unit (albeit with views)–and there was a buyer right on hand to purchase the property.
There are 379 condos and 381 single-family homes under contract (some with conditions to be removed, others pending and through the contingency period). These are extremely healthy numbers for the first quarter of any year, not to mention one that’s still recovering from the economic downturn. But it seems like buyers are very active in the San Francisco market; anecdotes among my colleagues abound about multiple-offer situations and all-cash offers.
Indeed, a look at the past year’s numbers from 1/10-1/11 shows a 25% increase in condos and a 33% increase in single-family homes under contract. Click on the charts below for a closer look:
This is relevant information for both buyers and sellers as we head into March. We could be looking at much higher volume in the pre-Spring time period, which means that waiting until the Spring to sell won’t really make much difference.