theFrontSteps – San Francisco

I’m going to hope the Stammtisch comes through with a quick response to this reader’s question, as I am totally swamped right now. If they don’t I’ll get to your answer this weekend. Thanks for writing in. In Andy Sirkin’s famous online article on condo conversion in SF, the graph seems to suggest that vacant [...]

A quote and a link from Damion Matthews…to an article that is quite representative of a lot of what is going on in some parts of the city, and not at all representative of a lot of what is going on in many parts of the city. Get that? Read it again. In and around [...]

A reader kindly asks about 2746 Gough #1 in Cow Hollow, and 120 Cherry in Presidio Heights, so I thought we’d give the answers. 120 Cherry is a home that hadn’t been on the market…ever, since it was built in 1923. (According to the “remarks”.) It is in Presidio Heights, is a trophy home, and [...]

by “Dave”…a reader that seems to have just scored a great home. Important detail he left out, and what I’m dying to know…did you use a Realtor? As I mentioned before, there wasn’t much magic in my purchase. The house was listed on MLS like everything else but was disclosed as an REO. I had [...]

This question came to me from Sophie, a very avid reader of both theFrontSteps and the sfnewsletter. I’m hoping we can provide some insight. Dear Alex, I’m very puzzled by something that happens more often than I can understand in the SF market. Why would ANY party agree to an off-market deal? (VIP houses put [...]

Yup, it’s true. Foreclosures in San Francisco are up from a whopping 62 63 notices in 2006 to 65 in 2007, or 3%. Dave, it looks like you were one of a very few to get your hands on a foreclosure in San Francisco. Hats off to you. We anxiously await the story. As always, [...]

“In the Bay Area, the [California Association of Realtors] said sales volume was down 9.8 percent from last year, while the median price was $841,660, up 6.9 percent from $787,540 last July.” -Home sales still weak in California and throughout the country [sfgate]

The Marketplace has been updated with a new property that might be of interest. Feel free to check it out at your leisure.

by Janet Krahling Take a look at this comparison: Downtown Hotel Luxury Condos (St. Regis and Four Seasons Residences re-sales) vs. Pacific Heights Condos ($1m+ sales). This chart compares average price per square foot in 2006 vs. average price per square foot YTD in 2007, according to MLS data. The average price per square foot [...]

We’ve been having lots of fun with the other Battles: Outer Richmond v. Outer Sunset and Pacific Heights v. Marina, so today we give you Hayes Valley or Haight Ashbury. The choice is yours. As always, we provide the data, and hope you provide the insight. Have fun. Sorry for the tech difficulties, it’s not [...]