March 2009 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

Noe Valley's housing market continued to shrivel in January '09, as buyers purchased only four detached homes and two condominiums during the month.

The price paid for the four houses averaged a little under $1.2 million and was about 5 percent below the price the sellers originally wanted, according to Zephyr Real Estate, which provides monthly sales data to the Voice. In addition, the deals took an average 82 days to close.

For purposes of comparison, in January a year ago, seven detached homes changed hands, and buyers paid an average $1.6 million, 3 percent more than the sellers' asking price. Those deals took 52 days to close.

The more recent data showed that both the value of homes and the number of sales have declined since September 2008, as the nation's economic woes finally seeped into Noe Valley. (See housing story, front page.)

Still, prices in the neighborhood remain high--by most Americans' standards. The ticket for the most expensive home sold in January was $1.5 million. The four-bedroom, four-bath house, with two-car parking and 2,700 square feet of space, is located in the 1300 block of Dolores Street between 26th and 27th streets. The lowest sale price during the month was $945,000.

The highest priced condo, located in the 900 block of Elizabeth Street between Hoffman and Grand View, sold for $1,260,000. With 1,900 square feet, the home has three bedrooms, 21/2 baths, and parking for one car.

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
January 2009	4	$945,000	$1,500,000	$1,181,875	82	95%
December 2008	6	$885,000	$1,500,000	$1,219,833	75	99%
January 2008	7	$935,000	$2,612,501	$1,636,214	52	103%
Condominiums
January 2009	2	$950,000	$1,262,500	$1,106,250	67	92%
December 2008	4	$650,000	$1,198,000	$869,500	76	98%
January 2008	1	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	$1,150,000	58	96%
2 to 4 unit buildings
January 2009	5	$920,000	$1,312,000	$1,108,800	85	90%
December 2008	0	-	-	-	-	-
January 2008	1	$1,935,000	$1,935,000	$1,935,000	29	102%
5+ unit buildings
January 2009	0	-	-	-	-	-
December 2008	1	$1,960,000	$1,960,000	$1,960,000	197	96%
January 2008	2	$1,415,000	$2,029,000	$1,722,000	110	96%

*Sales figures include all Noe Valley home sales completed during the month. In this survey, Noe Valley is defined as the area bordered by Grand View, 22nd, Guerrero, and 30th streets. The Voice thanks Zephyr Real Estate (www.zephyr-re.com) for supplying the data.

Noe Valley Rents**

Type of Unit	Number in Sample	Range of Rents, February 2009	Average Rent, February 2009	Average Rent, January 2009	Average Rent, February 2008
Studio	11	$1000-$2300	$1592	$1429	$1545
1 bedroom	25	$1460-$2650	$1965	$1880	$2019
2 bedrooms	34	$1899-$5950	$3073	$2972	$3354
3 bedrooms	17	$2800-$5400	$3738	$4086	$4594
4+ bedrooms	9	$4400-$8950	$6094	$6759	$6374

**These rent averages are based on a sample of 96 Noe Valley rental listings appearing on www.craigslist.com from January 27 to February 9, 2009.