February 2004 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

Every now and then, a real estate oddity slips into Noe Valley that in baseball parlance would be the equivalent or no runs, no hits, no errors.

This month it's this: Not a single condominium closed escrow in Noe Valley during December. The condo scorecard showed nothing but a perfect line of big fat zeros.

That was somewhat puzzling in a neighborhood where buyers for the last five years barely blinked in snatching up almost any property with a "For Sale" sign.

"I said, 'What in the world is going on?'" said Randall Kostick, 24th Street sales manager for Zephyr Real Estate, which provides the Voice with monthly sales data. "So I did a little investigating."

His conclusion was that the lack of sales may have been a statistical anomaly, since Noe Valley recorded strong condo sales the previous two months--seven in November and 10 in October. And some closings may have rolled over into January 2004.

And that may have worked in tandem with another possibility: Some potential condo buyers may have opted instead for small TIC apartment buildings.

Kostick noted that residential shoppers in December bought six pairs of two-unit flats, which are popular among owners who tend to occupy the units as tenants-in-common.

The most expensive pair of flats sold during December cost the buyers $1,175,000. The building is located in the 4000 block of 22nd Street.

A four-bedroom, three-and-one-half-bath house in the 900 block of Diamond Street was the most expensive detached home sold in December. The price tag was $1,795,000.

It was one of 14 single-family homes sold in the final month of the year.

Noe Valley Home Sales*

	Total Sales	Low Price ($)	High Price ($)	Average Price ($)	Average Days on Market	Sale Price as % of List Price
Single-family homes
December 2003	14	$600,000	$1,795,000	$1,070,571	33	108%
November 2003	12	$630,000	$1,500,000	$964,250	40	104%
December 2002	17	$453,500	$1,195,000	$795,000	36	100%
November 2002	12	$615,000	$1,500,000	$860,667	37	101%
Condominiums
December 2003	0
November 2003	7	$445,000	$751,000	$582,286	36	105%
December 2002	8	$415,000	$1,065,000	$699,125	38	103%
November 2002	5	$357,000	$925,000	$581,200	72	99%
2 to 4 unit buildings
December 2003	6	$800,000	$1,175,000	$1,043,833	29	106%
November 2003	4	$905,000	$1,375,000	$1,073,750	35	102%
December 2002	4	$725,000	$1,205,000	$936,250	56	101%
November 2002	6	$575,000	$1,499,000	$1,015,667	27	99%
5+ unit buildings
December 2003	2	$1,350,000	$1,950,000	$1,650,000	42	111%
November 2003	0
December 2002	0
November 2002	1	$1,425,000	$1,425,000	$1,425,000	16	114%

Noe Valley Rents**

Size of Apartment	Average Rents July-Sept 2003	Average Rents one year ago July-Sept 2002	% increase (+) or decrease (-)
Studio	$1175	$1079	+8.9%
1 bedroom	$1455	$1560	-6.7%
2 bedrooms	$2098	$2261	-7.2%
3+ bedrooms	$2956	$2744	+7.7%

*Information provided to the Noe Valley Voice courtesy of Zephyr Real Estate (www.zephyr-re.com) and based on all Noe Valley home sales (escrow closings) recorded during the month. "Noe Valley" in this survey is defined as the area bordered by Grand View, 22nd, Guerrero, and 30th streets.

**Data courtesy of Rent Tech, Inc (www.renttech.com)