Category: San Francisco Real Estate

It’s an interesting time in the San Francisco real estate market. If you’re one with the ocean, it’s like being caught between the in and out-going tides (the slack). We made it through the Summer Doldrums, hit the Fall listing frenzy and now we are stuck. Still many multiples of properties flying off the shelf and being fiercely competed, and still others languishing on the market without any takers. For those of us that list properties for sale, the offer date is no longer guaranteed to produce multiple offers, the number of emails and “insider” network posts of “still available” homes have risen dramatically, and general buzz and traffic to listings and open houses has definitely declined…mostly. I say mostly, because like I said earlier, some places are still crazy nuts.

As I dig through the data available to me, I was just about to say the market has totally shifted, and then I got stuck on this chart (from Compass’ market report) by way of the data guru Patrick Carlisle, and it reminded me to be patient, and not panic:

As you can see it goes back to 2012, and as you can see there is a definite pattern. The only difference this time around is in this chart, which shows a 28% increase year over year of new listings compared to last…more inventory, which means it will take longer to get through it, and once we get through it, what will the future hold? There is also a ton of other data that takes us way back in time, so I encourage you to check it out.

There is a lot of talk that we may have hit a peak, and there is still other talk from my lender contacts that we have another solid Spring selling season ahead of us before things get really interesting. We are in the midst of mid-term elections (GO VOTE!) and there is definitely weird and toxic fodder coming out of the White House, which could hose us all, but all in all I say it’s still too close to call whether or not the market is making a permanent shift, or just a temporary hiccup like we’ve definitely seen in years past.

I’m happy to chat market, seasonality, prime time to sell and buy, and what your property might currently be worth, just give me a shout.

In the meantime, I have a couple amazing homes for sale that you absolutely must check out:
An awesome Single Family in Cole Valley at 715 Cole (NOT ON MLS); and a spectacular Victorian condominium in the Haight at 1662 Page. Had you been following theFrontSteps you would have already known about these and perhaps even had a chance to snag 215 Cole, which I just sold quietly off market for $1,500,000. I keep telling you, follow my site, and be on my radar and good things will come your way.