September 2011 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

A surge of new workers moving into San Francisco’s booming high-tech and biotech job markets has made it more expensive to purchase a home or rent an apartment in Noe Valley.

Home hunters bought 22 single-family dwellings during June and July—just one fewer than they did during the same months last year, according to sales data supplied to the Voice by Zephyr Real Estate. But average prices were nearly 5 percent higher and competition stiffer.

The rental market appeared even tougher for prospective tenants. Apartment prices in Noe Valley took off over the summer and were approximately 15 percent higher this August than they were in August of 2010, said property manager Dennis Roybal. His firm, Chandler Properties, handles rentals in the neighborhood and throughout the city.

Roybal said the scrap for apartments is so fierce that the vacancy rate in Noe Valley is around 1 percent in a well-managed building—meaning there are few empty apartments—and landlords no longer offer concessions as they did during 2008–09.

“I was totally floored when this thing took off,” Roybal said. “A lot of it is job driven. These are people new in town, and I’m amazed at the amount of money they make—27 years old, right out of Harvard with an MBA.”

Roybal said many of the new renters choose Noe Valley because of the neighborhood’s close proximity to jobs downtown and to freeway access to the Peninsula. Some Silicon Valley employers provide free bus transportation to and from Noe Valley.

And it’s a great place to live, Roybal said. “You have 24th Street, and you’re in close proximity to the Mission” and its hip nightlife, he said.

J.J. Panzer, president of Noe Valley’s Real Management Company on Castro Street, said he has seen an influx of international workers, especially Europeans, looking for apartments in the neighborhood.

“We have multiple offers for just about everything,” Panzer said. “We are asking 10 percent more than we did last year—and getting it without hesitation.”

A small one-bedroom at 25th and Sanchez streets, for example, was quickly rented last month for $1,600—$150 more than the previous tenant paid, according to Panzer.

Randall Kostick, Zephyr Real Estate’s general sales manager, agreed that a second wave of high-tech workers—like the dot-com’ers of a decade ago—helped propel home sales over the summer.

“They’re coming into San Francisco and a good number of them are buying homes,” he said. “They’re working and living downtown, in SOMA and Mission Bay, and the ones who don’t want to live there are moving to Noe Valley.”

Kostick predicted that rising costs for apartments would give a push to the housing market. “As soon as the rents get high enough, people will flock to purchase again,” he said.

There was keen competition among buyers for single-family homes during June and July. A shortage of desirable homes and a wealth of shoppers prompted most buyers to pay more than the asking price, Kostick said.

Fifteen of the 22 homes that buyers purchased during June and July cost more than $1 million, according to Kostick.

The most expensive single-family home sold in June was a remodeled Victorian in the 4500 block of 25th Street, between Douglass Street and Hoffman Avenue. Buyers paid $2,490,000, slightly under the $2,550,000 asking price, for the four-bedroom, 4.5-bath, 3,824-square-foot property.

In July, buyers paid $1.8 million—$49,000 below the list price—for a contemporary home in the 1400 block of Noe Street, between 27th and 28th streets. The property featured three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and 2,300 square feet of living space.

Condominium sales were relatively meager in Noe Valley in June and July. Nine condos changed hands during the two months, compared to 17 sales during the same period last year, according to the Zephyr sales  data. However, their average price was significantly higher than last year’s.

The most expensive condo sold in June was a modern townhouse-style unit in the first block of Valley Street, between Dolores and Guerrero streets. The $1,199,000 price tag afforded the new owners a three-bedroom, 3.5-bath dwell­ing with 1,849 square feet of living space.

The top-selling condo in July was a penthouse in a three-unit building located in the 200 block of Fair Oaks Street between 23rd and 24th streets. Sporting four bedrooms and 3.5 baths, it sold for $1,650,000.

 

Noe Valley Home Sales*

	Total Sales	Low Price ($)	High Price ($)	Average Price ($)	Average Days on Market	Sale Price as % of List Price
Single-family
July 2011	12	$850,000	$1,800,000	$1,170,792	39	104%
June 2011	10	$700,000	$2,490,000	$1,261,750	39	99%
May 2011	17	$752,000	$2,300,000	$1,476,950	53	99%
July 2010	10	$550,000	$1,605,000	$1,077,000	42	104%
June 2010	13	$500,000	$2,025,000	$1,250,215	65	104%
Condominiums
July 2011	4	$600,000	$1,650,000	$972,500	45	100%
June 2011	5	$599,000	$1,199,000	$815,800	43	102%
May 2011	6	$759,000	$1,315,000	$931,083	36	101%
July 2010	8	$610,000	$1,100,000	$864,625	63	103%
June 2010	9	$525,000	$1,025,000	$765,861	63	101%
2- to 4- unit buildings
July 2011	3	$625,000	$1,500,000	$1,088,333	52	98%
June 2011	5	$1,035,000	$1,300,000	$1,149,600	25	112%
May 2011	3	$815,500	$1,325,000	$1,073,500	57	99%
July 2010	1	$1,160,000	$1,160,000	$1,160,000	147	100%
June 2010	3	$500,000	$1,400,000	$1,050,000	60	96%
5+ unit buildings
July 2011	1	$2,100,000	$2,100,000	$2,100,000	16	111%
June 2011	0	—	—	—	—	—
May 2011	1	$1,350,000	$1,350,000	$1,350,000	89	90%
July 2010	0	—	—	—	—	—
June 2010	0	—	—	—	—	—

*‑ ‑Sales include all Noe Valley home sales completed during the month. Noe Valley in this survey is defined as the area bordered by Grand View, 22nd, Guerrero, and 30th streets. The Voice thanks Zephyr Real Estate (www.zephyrsf.com) for providing the sales data. NVV 9/11

 

Noe Valley Rents**

Unit	No. in Sample	Range August 2011	Average August 2011	Average June 2011	Average August 2010
Studio	5	$1,295 – $1,750	$1,468 / mo.	$1,919 / mo.	$1,513 / mo.
1-bdrm	12	$1,600 – $2,295	$1,998 / mo.	$2,164 / mo.	$1,828 / mo.
2-bdrm	14	$1,750 – $4,500	$3,006 / mo.	$2,851 / mo.	$2,820 / mo.
3-bdrm	8	$2,500 – $6,500	$4,454 / mo.	$4,076 / mo.	$3,872 / mo.
4+-bdrm	2	$5,500 – $5,850	$5,675 / mo.	$5,020 / mo.	$5,850 / mo.

** ­‑This survey is based on a sample of 41 Noe Valley listings appearing on Craigslist.org from Aug. 3 to 21, 2011. NVV 9/11