Comparing the cost of buying a San Francisco 2-bedroom condo at the current average sales price (for the first 4 months of 2012) of $795,000 – adjusting for tax deductions and principal pay-down of the mortgage – with the cost of renting an SF 2-bedroom apartment at the current average asking rent of $3575/month (per Rentbits.com). Assumptions: 20% down-payment; 30-year fixed-rate loan at an APR of 4.25%; closing costs of $8838; property taxes at current rate; ongoing insurance and ... [More]

Here is a chart tracking the percentage of distressed home sales in San Francisco on a monthly basis. In April, this percentage declined to its lowest point (by a tad) in 2 years. As the economy recovers in the Bay Area and the market heats up (leading to price appreciation pressure), the number of distressed home listings has declined both numberically and as a percentage of the market. This decline improves market values in those neighborhoods where distressed home sales have predominated, and... [More]

Here are 3 updated charts tracking the supply and demand dynamic in the San Francisco homes market through April 2012: Percentage of Listings Accepting Offers; Months Supply of Inventory; and Listings for Sale. All reflect a very strong buyer demand competing for a very limited supply of homes for sale.  

A few different looks at what has happened to San Francisco median homes sales prices over the last 20 years, and over the past 6 months. As you can see, there has been quite a bounce up since the new year began -- which seems to parallel the surge in buyer demand and the decline in inventory available to purchase that SF has experienced in 2012. April in particular saw a huge jump in median sales price -- the highest since the double tax credit rush of April 2010 -- but we will have to wait for... [More]

Here are 3 mapped analyses of recent SF home sales by median sales price and average dollar per square foot. Even quarterly statistics can fluctuate within neighborhoods without great significance, because in every quarter a different basket of relatively unique properties sell. However, these maps still give an interesting overview of prices and values in the different areas of the city.

Under the maps, you will find a sampling of specific 2012 San Francisco home sales. [More]

"Home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area reached the highest level for the month of March in five years as an improving economy and low interest rates lured buyers, according to DataQuick. A total of 7,694 houses and condominiums sold last month in the nine-county region, up 35 percent from February and 9.1 percent from March 2011, the San Diego-based data seller said today in a statement. March sales were last higher in 2007, when they reached 8,317. Condo resales totaled 1,734, the most for ... [More]

As we've been noting for some time, San Francisco's home market has been recovering much faster than most of the Bay Area, state and country. Here is a good article from the San Jose Mercury News about their analysis of home value changes in the Bay Area, zip code by zip code. One thing you might note is the huge variety in statistics as shown on the article's map within the 5 counties of SF, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda and San Mateo -- which together make up the Case-Shiller SF "Metro Area". T... [More]

This AP article gives a look at what’s going on in the housing market from a different angle – lender mortgage applications -- than our usual market statistics: “Earnings reports from two major banks Friday painted a picture of a healing housing market, with more Americans taking out mortgages, paying them on time and taking advantage of low interest rates to refinance. At JPMorgan Chase, the biggest bank in the United States, income from new home loans set a record... [More]

Especially in the more affluent neighborhoods of San Francisco, distress sales have never impacted the city market like they have other areas of the Bay Area, state and country, and now that our market seems to have started its turnaround, we expect that they will play an ever diminishing role. And indeed in the city we've seen fewer and fewer distress sales and distress listings in recent quarters. Here is the new March report from ForeclosureRadar.com regarding national and state trends: ... [More]

The luxury home segment in San Francisco makes up about 10% of the overall home market in the city (by unit sales; more by dollar volume). One of the most interesting dynamics playing out right now in the SF luxury home market is the large increase in high-tech industry buyers with huge sums of new money at their disposal. Their presence is strongly impacting the market, especially in certain neighborhoods they've deemed most appealing. We expect this influx of new, wealthy buyers to continue throughout 2012 in the Bay Area. And, of course, as general economic conditions and confidence improves, we expect that this market segment will become increasingly active and competitive.

For our complete report:

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