The single-family home market emerges as a winner as since the pandemic people prefer to move to a lower density environment and to not live in close proximity with others. Luxury homes were slow and prices did drop but homes under $2.5 million held their own in terms of pricing.
There is no question that our real estate market has changed this year. With fewer sales and a tougher market to navigate, how do you choose the agent that is right for you?
As a student of real estate my entire life, 2023 holds special interest for me as this prolonged real estate cycle has changed. Normally in September I write about what we can expect in our fall real estate market because it marks the start of our second selling season of the year in San Francisco.
Paying off a mortgage early or not is a very personal decision. I have clients who just want to own their homes free and clear so that they can have peace of mind that they have no more monthly mortgages or obligations to pay.
As I write this column, the first half of 2023 is just about over. Each year has its own challenges and this year we have been dealing with rising inflation, higher interest rates, a volatile stock market and the seemingly never-ending battle with crime, homelessness and drugs in San Francisco. So where is the real estate market at?
We see cycles occurring all around us every day. Some cycles are long, others are short. Cycles also tend to repeat themselves.
The announcement of a proposed 50-story, 712-unit skyscraper at the Sloat Garden Center location by the SF Zoo this past month stirred up quite a bit of debate on whether this is appropriate for the neighborhood and the west side of town. To put that into perspective, it will be approximately 600 feet tall, about the height of the Embarcadero Center Towers near the Ferry Plaza.
March brought us news that two of our local banks are in crisis mode. The feds came in and shut down Silicon Valley Bank. Its competitor, First Republic Bank, is still under tremendous pressure at the time of this writing.
The year is well underway, and like any other year, people are preparing for the big push in the spring real estate market. However, unlike every year, there is uncertainty in the air.
Being a rental property owner in San Francisco gets harder and harder each year. There is a new law that passed in 2020 that requires owners of residential units to get a license before they can increase the rent. This law went into effect for buildings with 10 or more units on July 1, 2022 and will go into effect for all other residential buildings on March 1, 2023 with updates required by every March 1 thereafter.
The Richmond District single-family median home prices finally took a dip after rising 10 years in a row, with prices declining by 8.9% and the number of sales by 9.3% in 2022. But these numbers do not tell the whole story as the market was a tale of two halves.
The Sunset District’s single-family median home prices finally took a dip after rising 10 years in a row with median prices declining by .3% and the number of sales by 10.7% in 2022.
As 2022 comes to an end, we have had an interesting year in the real estate market. The question being asked at the end of the year is always, “Where is the real estate market headed?”
Ever since I wrote about the mortgage interest rates going up from 3% to 4.5% a couple of months ago and how that translates to the amount of real estate a buyer can purchase, I have been getting many questions on how that looks now that the interest rate is around 6.5 to 7%.
This November, we will have a plethora of ballot measures to go through both on the state and local level. We are already bombarded with ads for online gambling, abortion rights, affordable housing and candidates running for offices. I will stick to my expertise and cover the real estate related measures in this column and comment on others that can have an effect on real estate.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 