Downtown San Francisco has seen an uptick in new housing, mostly condominiums, over the past decade, but there’s lower demand when the units go on the market.
Despite having fewer homes than in other parts of the city, the number of homes in Downtown rose 8.7 percent between 2010 and 2021, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. But data shows that during the past four years, such homes have spent more days on the market and sold for a lower median price than elsewhere.
Much of the reason, industry experts say, is because single-family homes remain the most desirable and overbid properties in San Francisco.
“The majority of these (downtown) places, almost all of them are condos,” Adam Brinklow of Front Steps San Francisco Real Estate, told the Chronicle. “Over the last 10 years, single-family homes have been the huge driver,” especially for people looking to raise a family in the city.
The region described as Downtown by The San Francisco Planning Department is roughly bounded by Van Ness Avenue, Market Street and Sacramento Street to the Embarcadero.
Its 8.7 percent spike in homes over the past decade added more than 35,000 units of housing – among the highest growth in the city. Compared with 15 planning districts and three park areas, Downtown ranked fourth in the number of new homes.
Yet data from the real estate listing database MLS shows that, since 2018, homes within the three zip codes that cover the greater Financial District tended to spend more days on the market than in other parts of the city, and sell for a lower median list price, according to the newspaper.
In 2018, properties in the Financial District area sold for a median price of $1.2 million, despite listing for a median of $1.3 million. They also spent more than twice the median days on the market, compared to units that sold throughout the city that year.
Units listed in 2019 and 2020 in Downtown also were more likely to sell for below their original list price, and spent a median of 62 and 70 days on the market, respectively. Compare that to a median 17 days on the market citywide in 2019, and 22 days in 2020.
Last year, the median sale price of $1.15 million inched closer to the median list price of $1.24 million in the downtown area, although days on the market stayed at 69 compared to 16 citywide.
[San Francisco Chronicle] – Dana Bartholomew
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