San Francisco’s Most Over-the-Top Condo Wants $30M


And now, the latest in, “Does this building ever stop?” The co-op at 2006 Washington Street in Pac Heights knows how to make headlines: Basically, just keep pumping its prices higher. This is not a fool-proof system, but it works at least this well, because we’re returning to these heights once again with a new … Continue reading San Francisco’s Most Over-the-Top Condo Wants $30M

Maximum Luxury: Classic ’20s Double-Decker Penthouse Asks $15M


This is Maximum Luxury, a weekly column peering at listings for some of San Francisco’s most expensive homes, purely for the sake of indulgence. Quite honestly, there are not very many things in the world that are actually worth $15 million; if you had to spend that much money for some reason, it can be … Continue reading Maximum Luxury: Classic ’20s Double-Decker Penthouse Asks $15M

Maximum Overbid: Make Yourself at Home


The US Census estimates that the average American move more than 11 times in their life, or about once every six or seven years. But someone just plain has to be ahead of the curve, like the case of this week’s biggest overbid, 2494 35th Avenue, a three bed, three bath Parkside house that came … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Make Yourself at Home

Maximum Overbid: “The Worst House” Doubles Its Money


Sometimes the real estate game is simple: All you have to do is predict the future. That doesn’t require any special powers–just a reasonably good sense of the way things are going. Case in point, back in September we featured 320 Day Street, a crumbling fixer advertised as “the worst house on the best block” … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: “The Worst House” Doubles Its Money

Tahoe Property With “Underground Lair” Plans Seeks $12.5M


One of our favorite sub-genres of home listings is incredibly ambitious and expensive luxury properties that have not yet actually been built but still seek millions of dollars. You can find lots of these phantasmal gems in San Francisco, but we have to admit, this latest Tahoe listing in the town of Olympic Valley might … Continue reading Tahoe Property With “Underground Lair” Plans Seeks $12.5M

The Three Numbers That Show SF Hasn’t Built Enough Housing


How much new housing does San Francisco need? Housing watchers can argue this point all day without breaking for lunch and still never reach a conclusion. But if you just want to underscore the need, the Public Policy Institute of California, an SF-based nonpartisan non-profit, examined census data for every California county and boiled it … Continue reading The Three Numbers That Show SF Hasn’t Built Enough Housing

The Most Expensive SF Homes Sold In 2021


As a wise man once said, it ain’t over till it’s over, and with many weeks left in 2021 it could still yet turn out that we’re a bit premature with this end-of-year ranking. A last-minute sale could nab any one of these top spots before 2022 rolls around; but unless fate conspires against us … Continue reading The Most Expensive SF Homes Sold In 2021

Maximum Overbid: Peaks In Valleys


The time has come once again to follow the money with Maximum Overbid, our weekly column examining just how much SF buyers went above and beyond when paying for a home. And for the first time in literally months, the top overbid for the week did NOT happen in the Sunset; instead it’s a Noe … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Peaks In Valleys

Buy a Chunk of This Truckee House For $5,000


When you’re cruising Tahoe real estate listings–as many of us do when the stars are right and we feel that peculiar urge–there are always a few oddballs in the lot where it’s not necessarily clear what’s on sale. Just this week a listing appeared for 12595 Legacy Court in Truckee, a two bed, two bath … Continue reading Buy a Chunk of This Truckee House For $5,000

The Latest SF Liquefaction Zone Maps (for those who must know)


Did you feel it? At about 7:30 PM last night, the US Geological Survey recorded an earthquake below one corner of El Cerrito’s Sunset View Cemetery, about 4.9 kilometers down. (That’s three miles, more or less.) It was really just a little bump and rattle, measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale–barely worth noticing, although people … Continue reading The Latest SF Liquefaction Zone Maps (for those who must know)

This Is the Least Expensive Home In the Most Expensive City In the Country


Every year, the aggregate site Property Shark releases its rankings of the most expensive housing ZIP codes in America–and every year Atheron lands in the number one spot, or very close to it. It’s almost a tradition, by this point. This year, the site followed up with a bit of a brainteaser: What are the … Continue reading This Is the Least Expensive Home In the Most Expensive City In the Country

Maximum Luxury: $6.8 Million Pac Heights Vic Returns After Just Nine Months


Welcome back to Maximum Luxury, the column where we gander at the most expensive homes for sale in San Francisco, simply because we can. The offering at 2411 Washington Street in Pac Heights just opened very hot, listing on Black Friday for $6.8 million. This is a classic SF Victorian circa 1900–note that since that’s … Continue reading Maximum Luxury: $6.8 Million Pac Heights Vic Returns After Just Nine Months

Maximum Overbid: Stuffed With Thanks


This being a short week with a holiday, you’d imagine it wouldn’t be as busy on the homes front. And you’d be right; whereas an average of 161 homes closed each week in 2021 thus far, for the past seven days it was just 91. With things a little bit quiet, maybe this is an … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Stuffed With Thanks

Empty Bernal Heights Lot Becomes New House After 20-Year Campaign


According to the new listing for 106 Bache Street, the four bed, four bath property now asking $2.28 million is a “brand new house in Bernal Heights,” and that’s true–but it’s only a fraction of the story. Bernal Heights remains one of SF’s most popular and marketable residential neighborhoods, but it’s also one of the … Continue reading Empty Bernal Heights Lot Becomes New House After 20-Year Campaign

Why Everyone Loves Eichlers


Joseph Eichler built some 11,000 homes in the course of his career, and now nearly 50 years after his death his Eichler homes still exert a powerful effect on the popular imagination. In short, people love Eichler homes, noted for their open floorplans, large atriums, and mingling of indoor and outdoor space, to name a … Continue reading Why Everyone Loves Eichlers

Maximum Overbid: Sunset Surprise


Overbids are entertaining, but skeptical housing watchers always have to wonder whether they’re the result of real market forces or just canny sellers pricing low (although arguably the latter IS a market force–just not necessarily one we account for a lot of the time). It’s always more fun to imagine that the top seller for … Continue reading Maximum Overbid: Sunset Surprise