Posts Tagged ‘condos’
May 1, 2009
840 Powell #702 hit the market a few days ago and after visiting this past Tuesday, we have to say it’s quite the pad for view lovers. Situated on the top floor of a notable Nob Hill building, this home has 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and approximately 3,038 square feet. Located at the intersection of two cable car lines with close proximity to Union Square, the Financial District, Chinatown, and North Beach, this spot is tough to beat.
The penthouse condo has a surprisingly open floor plan for its location in an older building, and the home has nice separation between the bedrooms and the living areas. There is no shortage of windows either, which lets the city lights pour into unit from all angles.
Listed at $3,500,000, 840 Powell #702 comes with 2 car parking, a wood-burning fireplace, gorgeous coffered ceilings, a formal dining room, a sun-room, storage, all within a door-man building. Here are some pics:
For more pictures, continue reading –>
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Posted in Neighborhood Info, Nob Hill, Public Listings, Taking You Inside, Tips | Tagged 840 powell #702, amazing homes, condos, homes for sale, nob hill, san francisco, san francisco real estate, views | Leave a Comment »
May 1, 2009
One of our favorite parts of San Francisco is Telegraph Hill. Amazing views of the city skyline, the Bay, and the Bay Bridge can be seen from various vantage points. Combine that with close proximity to the Financial District, the waterfront, and culturally rich North Beach, and you’ve got all the elements for desirability. The hill is covered in greenery and is home to our city’s fabled Parrots (aren’t they really Parakeets?). Some of SF’s most important people dwell on Telegraph Hill and enjoy its park-like setting.
A beautiful condo hit the market a few months back, located at 1440 Kearny. It has seen price drop after price drop and now sits at $2,295,000. Living space sprawls out on 3 levels for a townhouse feel. The home features decks, terraces, techno gadgets, 2 car parking, views, and of course the primo location. Included are three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and approximately 2,246 square feet. Quite frankly, we can’t believe it hasn’t sold yet. It’s truly a remarkable residence and if you like the area, be sure to check this one out. Then walk down the hill, have a gelato at Washington Square, and fall back in love with North Beach.
1440 Kearny sits high on Telegraph Hill
Views abound from this residence
For more photos, continue reading –>
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Posted in Neighborhood Info, Public Listings, Taking You Inside, Telegraph Hill, Tips | Tagged 1440 kearny, amazing homes, condos, homes for sale, san francisco, san francisco real estate, telegraph hill | 1 Comment »
April 23, 2009
This story comes to us from Atlanta, GA. It illustrates a little tip to those of you looking to get into a real estate investment or purchase a home. Here’s the advice: Your builder does not care about you.
How do we know? Let’s take an example from this Atlanta story. Why Atlanta? Well, we don’t want to smear anyone in SF on a public message board, but 2,500 miles away in the A-T-L… we’re blowing the whistle. Off the public board, however, we advise our clients how things shake out here locally.
Anyhoo, there is a company that built a high rise condo building in Midtown Atlanta in 2004. Units sold like hotcakes at the time. The sales center opened and it was like an old west land grab over the ~380 units. The building, named “Spire”, caters to a young, professional, and hip crowd addicted to city living, incredible views, and night life that never ends. Owners happily moved and settled in. The builder had acquired a nice batch of customers.
Spire was a hot commodity in '04.
Fast forward to 2007. The same builder went directly across the street and built Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Appraisal 101, Home Buying, Home Selling, Tips | Tagged atlanta, builder discounts, condos, inventory, over development, price gouging, san francisco, san francisco real estate, spire midtown, viewpoint midtown | 1 Comment »
April 15, 2009
An article on CNN Money the other day got us thinking about the overall health of the San Francisco real estate market. Sure, prices are down. No market has been immune to the country’s economic downturn. But some have been hit with a cold while others are bedridden with pneumonia.
Time for a check up
The article mentioned above talks about the Miami real estate market. Some tidbits:
- There are 13,200 homes for sale in Miami right now.
- There are 21,600 condos for sale in Miami right now.
We’re not alarmed by these numbers… after all, Miami is a very different market than San Francisco and comparing the two is not exactly “apples to apples”. However, there is a way we can normalize data between the two markets to control for the differences. We can accomplish this by looking at MSI, or months supply of inventory. We’ve written about this metric before. Basically, months supply of inventory is a measure of how many months it would take to sell off all of today’s inventory (active listings) if new listings ceased coming on the market immediately. It is calculated by taking the total active listings in a market and dividing it by the number of homes under contract. For example, lets say there are 10 condos for sale in a market and 5 have gone into contract during the current month. This market has just 2 months supply of inventory, which is pretty hot.
Markets that have 0-3 months supply of inventory are considered hot. 3-6 months is in balance, 6-9 months is cool, and 9 or more months is cold.
When we compare Miami to San Francisco, here’s what we currently see:
- Miami currently has a 52-month glut, I, I mean, supply of condos. That means it would take over 4 years for all of today’s active condo listings to sell if new units stopped coming on the market immediately. Add to that shadow inventory, foreclosures (which are a huge problem there) and pocket listings and… Holy toledo!! Ok, now we’re alarmed.
- San Francisco, according to the highly respected real estate analysis company Terradatum, has Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Appraisal 101, Macro-Level Info, Nerdy RE Analysis, Tips | Tagged condos, demand, inventory, miami florida, months inventory, months supply, national trends, real estate trends, san francisco, san francisco real estate, single family homes, supply | Leave a Comment »
April 1, 2009
It’s time for Tuesday Tour Show-Stoppers again! We’ve easily visited over 60 properties in the last week, both on tour and out with clients. Here are some of the ones that stand out in our minds as solid properties. Please note that we are not judging prices. We are judging what we consider to be prime real estate. Sure, it’s a highly subjective task, but we do follow a logical process when making our picks. We take into account location, layout, functional utility, finishes, quality, and of course, all of our own experiences in real estate sales and appraisal.
Time to make those picks!
Favorites of the Week
Under $1 million, our fave is 1885 Jackson Street #101. This charming 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo is bright, efficiently laid out, renovated, and listed at $739,000.
Our favorite single family home this week is 2746 Buchanan in Pacific Heights. This home flows incredibly well, has a stunning staircase, and is chock full of amenities that make our mouths water. It contains 4 bedrooms, 4.25 baths, a rooftop hot-tub overlooking the Golden Gate bridge, and is offered at $4,300,000.
And finally, our favorite condo of the week is 807-B Kansas Street. Wow. You really have to see this Potrero Hill masterpiece to believe it. 360-degree views from the rooftop deck are just the tip of the iceberg as you make your way into this unique residence. Truly remarkable. It has 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and is listed at $1,795,000.
If you have no idea what the Tuesday Tour is, click HERE.
Without further ado, here are this week’s picks! (You can click the property address for photos and a full description).
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Posted in Public Listings, Show-Stoppers, Tips | Tagged 1885 jackson #101, 2746 buchanan, 807 kansas #b, brokers tour, condos, favorite houses, san francisco, san francisco real estate | Leave a Comment »
March 20, 2009
As you know, the pace of change occurring in our country’s economic/financial system has been monumental during the past 6 months. In analyzing real estate trends, it’s nice to be able to look at the most recent data to gain insight on how these huge forces impact values locally. The challenge is having enough data to see a trend and allowing enough time for the forces at play to affect prices (there is undoubtedly a lag).
We looked at median values for Condos/Co-ops/TICs/Lofts in the Inner Mission. In order to incorporate recent economic forces, we compared the past six months performance to that of years past. Beginning on September 21, 2008 and running through March 20, 2009, we calculated the median value for the neighborhood and then compared the results to the same time period going back 11 years.
It's time to "analyze this"...
Could we have limited our results to less than 6 months? Actually yes, we wanted to. Three months history would be more reliable. However the challenge was that there were not enough sales (data points) to create a reliable trend. We see the magic number of sales to create a reliable median value trend to be somewhere around 25.
Could we have gone back more than 11 years? We did, but we found that the early years had very little data (less than 20 sales during this time frame per year) and thus they were left out. And of course pre-1995, MLS has no recorded sales as it was not the glorious database it is today… it was a huge periodical publication.
What we’re left with in this particular study is a 6-month analysis going back 11 years. Here are the results for the Inner Mission: Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Getting Granular, Inner Mission, Micro-Level Info, Neighborhood Info, Nerdy RE Analysis | Tagged condos, district 9c, inflation, Inner Mission, lofts, median sales prices, san francisco, san francisco real estate, tics, Tips, trends | Leave a Comment »
March 12, 2009
We’ve put together a chart that pits four of San Francisco’s most prestigious neighborhoods against one another… Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, and the Marina. Median condominium values were plotted over a 14 year history, dating back to 1995 (this is as far as MLS will go). We adjusted the median prices to account for inflation so we could isolate market appreciation.
And around the final corner, it's Nob Hill in front... Nob Hill in front!
How did they fare?
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Posted in Getting Granular, Marina, Micro-Level Info, Neighborhood Info, Nerdy RE Analysis, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill | Tagged appreciation, condominiums, condos, depreciation, Marina, nob hill, Pacific Heights, russian hill, san francisco, san francisco real estate | Leave a Comment »
March 4, 2009
What is a pocket listing? A pocket listing is a home that is not being advertised to the general public through the MLS or a listing that will come on the market in the future but right now is still a secret. Many homes in San Francisco sell while off the open market, so pocket listing culture is a big deal. Every week, we’ll be sharing info about pocket listings that we know about. Information on pocket listings is sparse and secretive, so pardon us if we seem short on details for the purposes of our blog. If you are interested in learning more, you can click HERE to contact us. Without further adieu, here are this week’s pocket listings:
- Out of our pocket and over to you
To see this week’s pocket listings, continue reading –>
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Posted in Pocket Listings, Tips | Tagged condos, homes for sale, march 4 2009, off market listings, Pocket Listings, private listings, san francisco, san francisco real estate | Leave a Comment »
February 23, 2009
It’s time to narrow in on a San Francisco neighborhood again! This time we’ve chosen Potrero Hill and are putting the condo market under the magnifying glass. We looked at median sales prices for condos over a 14-year history and have compiled the findings here for your convenience.
The City as seen from Potrero Hill
To see all the stats and trends, continue reading –> Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Appreciation and Hold Times, Getting Granular, Micro-Level Info, Neighborhood Info, Nerdy RE Analysis, Potrero Hill | Tagged appreciation, condominiums, condos, depreciation, potrero hill, sales, san francisco, san francisco real estate, trends | 1 Comment »
February 20, 2009
This is a very important question, as many new developments have sprung up over the years, particularly in parts of the city south of Market Street. The answer is yes, it is okay to buy in a new development, but keep in mind the following tips:
The area south of the financial district has seen rapid condo inventory growth.
1) Always bring an agent. You have to have your agent with you during your first visit to any given sales center if you plan on using one. Very few developers will allow you to visit alone, and later come back with an agent to represent your best interests. This is a developer custom that has evolved over the years, because like all sellers, they pay your agent’s commission. Fortunately, having an agent represent your interests costs you nothing.
2) Why use an agent? There are countless reasons, but an important one with regard to new developments is that good agents know how soft prices are at each development. Some make concessions, some are taking low offers (in some cases VERY low offers) and some are throwing in goodies such as hardwoods and appliance packages. Conversely, some are not making any concessions. A good agent will know what’s going on at each development and how to get you more for your money.
3) Above and beyond negotiation, another thing a good agent will do for you is keep you away from developments that are fledgling or are headed for big trouble. There are developments (both new and existing) that I wouldn’t let my clients touch with a ten-foot pole. Mismanaged HOA’s, annual budget deficits, lots of REO’s, poor construction quality, and law suits are just the tip of the iceberg. Beware the agent that says all these developments are perfectly good investments. They’re not.
Four more great tips if you continue reading –> Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Financial District, Home Buying, Home Selling, Neighborhood Info, SoMa, South Beach, Tips | Tagged condominium, condos, high rise, inventory, new developments, san francisco, san francisco real estate, soma, south beach, Tips, trends | 2 Comments »
February 13, 2009
Ever been curious about how much of our local condo market is comprised of studios? 1 bedroom units? 2 bedroom units? Well this post is for you.
How many bedrooms do YOU need?
We took a good look at the San Francisco condo market and calculated what percentage of condo sales were taking place at each bedroom level, and plotted them on a chart to see if any trends were identifiable. For example, are 2 bedroom units becoming more popular? Less? Unchanged? Let’s find out.
Continue reading to see the trends –> Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Macro-Level Info, Nerdy RE Analysis | Tagged condo market, condominiums, condos, distribution, market share, number of bedrooms, san francisco, san francisco real estate, trends | 2 Comments »
February 10, 2009
A fairly common question we come across in everyday business is “How do 1-bedroom condos perform when compared to 2-bedroom condos?“
It’s an interesting question, and we set out to identify some trends. We looked at all condo sales in San Francisco dating back to 1995, and separated them out by number of bedrooms into four groups: Studios, 1-bedroom, 2-bedrooms, and 3-bedrooms. What we found was somewhat revealing about the condo market in general. *Please keep in mind, we have adjusted the median values for inflation to get a more accurate view of the market.
Can the number of bedrooms keep your property value afloat?
- Studio medians peaked in 2005 and are down 12.84% since.
- 1-bedroom medians peaked in 2005 and are down 9.04% since.
- 2-bedroom medians peaked in 2005 and are down Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Macro-Level Info, Nerdy RE Analysis | Tagged 1-bedroom, 2-bedrooms, 3-bedrooms, condominiums, condos, days on market, dom, median sales price, medians, san francisco, san francisco real estate, stats, studio, trends | Leave a Comment »
February 9, 2009
South Beach is an interesting part of the City to analyze. There has been so much development occurring in the past couple decades to make it a poster-child for urban renaissance. However, with rapid change comes big gambling. Big winners and in some cases, big losers.
"I've got a pair of South Beaches and a pair of Nob Hills... what 'chu got?"
We took a close look at the South Beach condominium market (which includes lofts) to see what types of trends are going on in the ‘hood. We’ve looked at trends here before, but we’ve taken the analysis a step further by 1) inflation-adjusting the values to account for the changing value of the dollar, and 2) overlaid the neighborhood trend with that of the entire City to gain a sense of relation.
Before we take a look at the trends, a few points about the data must be made. First, the data comes from MLS (like all of our analysis). Developers who are selling brand new condos (for example, at the Infinity) do not put their sales prices in the MLS. This is kept secret so they can adjust their sales prices on the fly, based on demand. You can thank them for that… it’s not our doing! Even though new development sales are left out of the analysis does not render the data useless, however. Resales (sales from one person to another) are tracked in the MLS, and it’s the resale market owners should be most concerned with.
With that said, here’s a look at what’s going on with South Beach condos on the whole: Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Appreciation and Hold Times, Getting Granular, Market Check Up, Micro-Level Info, Neighborhood Info, Nerdy RE Analysis, South Beach | Tagged condominiums, condos, infinity, lofts, medians, san francisco, san francisco real estate, soma, south beach, south of market, trends, values | 1 Comment »
January 31, 2009
That’s just what the Doctor ordered for San Francisco’s newest (and tallest) luxury condo high rise, The Millennium. Sales haven’t exactly been soaring since the sales center opened in June 2008. The timing of the project is partially to blame, as the economy decidedly got worse as the building was being constructed. This was an unfortunate turn of events for the developer, but they persisted anyway. The other challenge is that the units in the building ain’t cheap. Think $1,000 to $2,500 per square foot, depending on what floor you’re on. The luxury market is a small one, and catering to this crowd is quite the challenge.
So how could the sales team spice things up a bit? Last week they slashed prices across the board, fifteen percent. Since the price cut, seven units have gone into contract including one of the two penthouses on the 59th floor. We’ve taken pictures of the views from up there, so if you’d like to check it out you can click HERE. The developer also honored the 15% discount to all those currently in contract. We think this is a classy move, considering deposits on the units are non-refundable.
To read the full article about the Millennium Tower’s recent success, click HERE. It was published in the San Francisco Business Times.
The Millennium Tower is San Francisco's tallest residential highrise and the 4th tallest building in the City at 645 feet.
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Posted in Financial District, Neighborhood Info, New Developments, News, SoMa, Tips | Tagged 2009, condos, discount, luxury condominiums, millennium tower, sales, san francisco, san francisco real estate | Leave a Comment »
January 27, 2009
We’re excited about our new series here at Inside SF Real Estate called “Building Profiles“. From time to time we’ll pick a random building to spotlight and give you all the stats, trends and scoops.
So… where do we begin? We figured it would be best to kick things off with the building Mayor Gavin Newsom calls home, Bellaire Tower.
Stats and Scoops
- Official Address(es): 1101 Green Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
- Cross Streets: Green at Leavenworth
- Neighborhood: Russian Hill
- Year Built: 1930
- Style: Art Deco
- Height: 252 feet, 77 meters
- Layout: 64 units on 20 floors, an average of 3.2 units per floor
- Property Type: Condominiums – 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units
- Architect: Herman Carl Baumann
- Other notable projects by Herman Carl Baumann include 1800 Pacific Avenue, 2400 Buchanan, 3401 Clay, 1950 Clay, 2201 Sacramento, Bellevue-Staten Apartments (Oakland), Gaylord Suites and 1950 Gough. (Emporis.com)
- Mayor Gavin Newsom purchased a 2-bedroom, 1-bath condo around 1,700 square feet for $2,350,000. The previous owner was a friend of Mayor Newsom’s, Mr. Peter Getty. (San Francisco Business Times)
- The architect invested heavily in the building and suffered a financial disaster due to the Great Depression. (Emporis.com)
- The building has a rich, ornate Spanish lobby. (Emporis.com)
- In Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Vertigo, this building can be seen in the distance from in front of the Elster’s apartment building. (Emporis.com)
- Bellaire Tower is 2 meters taller than the Ferry Building.
- Bellaire Tower is 2 meters shorter than the New York Stock Exchange.
- Bellaire Tower is the 110th tallest building in San Francisco. If Bellaire Tower were magically moved to New York, it would rank #852.
- 3.38 Bellaire Towers stacked on top of one another would equal the height of the Transamerica Pyramid.
Bellaire Tower sits atop Russian Hill, just northwest of San Francisco's financial district (click to enlarge)
For more fun info, real estate trends, and lots of pics, continue reading –>
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Posted in Building Profiles, Neighborhood Info, Russian Hill | Tagged 1101 green, bellaire tower, condominiums, condos, gavin newsom, green, leavenworth, mayor, russian hill, san francisco, san francisco real estate, scoops, stats, trends | Leave a Comment »
