San Francisco logs first home sale above $10M in 2023

After an anxious fall and moribund winter, there’s a “buzz” in the luxury market again, according to Compass agent Ana T.L. Dierkhising. 

Her Cow Hollow listing overlooking the Presidio seemed to track the mood of the high-end market during the latter half of last year — and it sold this week for $11.2 million. It’s the first residential sale over the $10 million mark in San Francisco this year and a possible sign that buyers are coming out of their winter hibernation. 

The 1923 home at 2545-2547 Lyon Street sits along the Lyon Street Steps next to the Presidio and has been owned by Peek Development LLC since 2017, according to public records. The company bought it for just under $7 million. 

The seller purchased the property because of its period details, “impressive, expansive  views” of the San Francisco Bay and Cow Hollow, and location abutting the Presidio, Dierkhising said via email. 

The developer worked with the city during the next few years to “extensively and impeccably” rebuild the detached four-level home, while maintaining its 1920s architectural details, she said. Period features such as French doors and arched windows coexist alongside modern amenities like a two-car side-by-side garage, pentlevel with an unobstructed Bay view roof deck, PV solar system and Tesla backup battery.

The two-unit home has a guest studio with its own kitchenette and full bath on the ground level, for a total of five bedrooms, plus six full and two half baths on the property. 

The home came to market with a listing price of $13.5 million in mid-June, just as the balance of power began shifting towards buyers for the first time in years. Dierkhising said the first two brokers’ tours were among the busiest of her career, and she had continuous showings for the first three months. But the seasonal summer slowdown “coupled with the economic concerns and political issues made for unpredictable and unstable market conditions,” she said. 

As inventory above $10 million began to build in the fall and the property had not sold, she cut the price by $1 million in October. After a “very challenging fall,” the market really slowed for the holidays and Dierkhising took the listing down. While luxury buyers on the Peninsula seemed to jump back into the market towards the end of the holiday season, it took until mid-January for interest to return in San Francisco. 

That’s when Dierkhising began getting calls from agents and a few showing requests, even though the property had been off the market for a month, because so many sellers had pulled their unsold northside listings off the market, she said. 

“There does not seem to be a lot of inventory on the horizon, so agents are connecting to talk about properties that had been pulled off the market without a sale in 2022,” she said.

After an “extensive and strong negotiation,” the home had a “very smooth escrow” and sold on Feb. 13. The buyer is unknown, but was represented by Joel Schilperoort of Sotheby’s International Realty.

Compass Chief Market Analyst Patrick Carlisle said in his January report that the greater Bay Area saw its home sales volume hit its lowest point since 2008 last month. But preliminary data for the spring — increasing open house traffic, more disclosure packet requests and more over-asking bids — seem to point towards “a rebound in buyer demand,” in part because of a drop in interest rates from their November peaks and an uptick in the financial markets in the new year, he said.

“Buyers seem more motivated as the rapid and drastic increases in interest rates seems to be slowing down,” Dierkhising agreed. “They seem to be more confident in the market in general and see the benefits of ‘getting in’ before more buyers step back into the mix.”