San Francisco homes fall farthest in the nation

Metro drops 25% in value compared to April 2022 peak, according to report

San Francisco homes falling
(Getty; Illustration by The Real Deal)

 

Home prices in San Francisco are down more than anywhere else in the nation, according to a new report from Parcl Labs, which shows that the price per square foot dropped nearly a quarter in January compared to the metro’s April 2022 peak. 

San Jose was only slightly better: the price per square foot in the South Bay was down 20 percent from its May 2022 peak, according to the real estate data company.

In terms of dollars, a Compass report put the January median home price in San Francisco at $1.5 million, while the peak in early summer 2022 was just over $2 million. For Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose, another Compass report put the January median price at $1.5 million, compared to about $1.85 million during the peak last year. These numbers roughly confirm the Parcl Labs analysis, which does not include dollar amounts.

The San Francisco MSA includes sales in San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin and Alameda counties, while the San Jose metro includes Santa Clara County. The report compares the price per square foot of each metro and region at its specific peak to where they stood in January 2023, Parcl Labs co-founder Jason Lewris said via email. 

The data on San Francisco’s drop from peak prices matches similar Compass figures from January, but Parcl gives the decline a nationwide perspective. Its analysis found that while all markets are down, the national average is only 10 percent, with significantly bigger drops in the West Coast and in the Bay Area in particular. The Pacific region, which includes California, Oregon and Washington, is the worst performing section of the nation, with prices down nearly 15 percent from their 2022 highs. Condos lost more value — 16 percent compared to 13 percent for single-family homes in the area. 

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The best performing markets are in the South Atlantic region, which is down 6.6 percent from its 2022 high, with Miami outperforming the rest of its region by dropping just 4.5 percent.

The data also shows that what local agents have said anecdotally about the spring market picking up steam has numbers to back it up. After bottoming out in January, price per square foot in the city and metro San Francisco area, as well as in the San Jose metro, are heading up, according to Parcl Labs data, though they are still well below pre-pandemic prices.

Whether or not that upward trend continues this spring will depend on how heavily the broader economic picture weighs on buyers’ minds, Parcl Labs co-founder Jason Lewris said.

“The war between buyers comfortable entering into this market and sellers’ intensity to exit their positions will likely go back and forth as market volatility continues,” he said. “Overall, we continue to expect that performance will be city by city, market by market. We saw huge differences in metro areas within the same region. That trend will continue as consumer behavior, price sensitivity and overall sentiment towards personal financial situations changes daily.”

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