The San Francisco condo market is still sluggish, with way more units on the market than there are in contract. The good news, however, is that buyers don’t appear to be giving up on purchasing condos in the city. San Francisco-focused lenders with whom I’ve been speaking are busy with new buyer loan preapprovals. I’m optimistic that the next buyer wave will start scooping up some of our inventory.
Here’s what we saw in May:
Volume check. The 187 condos that closed in May represented a 39% drop in year-over-year sales. But 187 was 11% more than April came up with.
Median price differentials are not as dramatic. May’s median condo price was $1,150,000, which was a YOY decline—and a 3% drop from April’s median of $1,190,000.
Price per square foot dipped below $1,000. The average price per square foot for a condo in May was $985. This was a slide from April’s $1,054 average, and down 13.5% YOY.
Drill down: Here’s a quick look at how the most popular condo categories did:
1BRs | 58 sold | $708,500 avge price
2BRs | 71 sold | $1,295,000
3BRs | 42 sold | $1,693,750
Big overbids disappeared in May. There were no 20%+ overbids on closed condo sales in May, the first time I’ve seen that in a very long time. However, 74 of the 187 condos sold did so for over the list price.
Luxury condo buyers dropped off in May. Only 14 condos sold in the $2M+ range. The Millennium saw the sale of a unit that had been on the market for a very long time. The 1,952-square foot 3BR/3BA at 301 Mission #42D was first listed at the end of August in 2020 for $3.1M. (The sellers paid $2.5M in 2010.) #42D closed in May for $2.2M after 954 days on market. (Photo courtesy Compass)
SF has a lot of available condos. There are more than 600 condos on the market, at a median list price of $1,186,500. The neighborhoods with the most inventory are Dogpatch, Inner Mission, Mission Bay, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, South Beach, South of Market, Yerba Buena and the Van Ness Corridor.
Far fewer condos are in contract. Only 154 units are actually in contract, so we have a long way to go before the 600+ units on the market are absorbed. The median list price for these in-contract units is $899,000.
Pro Tips:
Sellers: If you’re a serious seller with a condo in one of the high-inventory neighborhoods, make sure you price your unit competitively and have a realistic value expectation.
Buyers: Write that offer if you find a place you like that may be above your price range. You won’t get anywhere unless you try!
{All data courtesy of the San Francisco Multiple Listing Service]