Noe Valley Voice February 2005
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The Cost of Living in Noe:
Home Sellers Go on Holiday

By Corrie M. Anders

The number of people who purchased a single-family home in Noe Valley in December dropped to the lowest level (for a December) since 2000.

Buyers closed escrow on seven homes during the last month of 2004, according to statistics Zephyr Real Estate provided to the Noe Valley Voice. That was half the number recorded in December a year ago. The two previous Decembers were busier, also. There were 17 new homeowners in December 2002 and 16 in December 2001.

But Randall Kostick, 24th Street office manager for Zephyr Real Estate, does not believe the drop-off portends a significant slowdown in the Noe Valley housing market, which has been red-hot for years.

Instead, he says, the decline probably occurred because homeowners "were paying attention to the holidays" rather than offering properties for sale.

"It was more about sellers deciding not to sell than buyers deciding not to buy," he says. "There were plenty of buyers."

Kostick points out that in December those avid buyers paid about 10 percent more than the sellers were asking. That helped the average price tag for a single-family home stay well above $1 million.

"People are still overbidding to get the properties," he says. Another sign of the neighborhood's resilient market, Kostick says, is that homes closed escrow in less than a month. The average deal took 22 days (18 for condos).

However, the last time December sales fell into single digits occurred in 2000, when eight homes closed escrow. The average price then was $850,000--a bargain in today's terms.

In December '04, four of the seven homes sold cost more than $1 million. The most expensive, $1,430,000, was a four-bedroom, three-bath home in the 800 block of Elizabeth Street.

A three-bedroom, two-bath condominium in the 1100 block of Church Street was December's costliest attached home. The condo sold for $1,353,000.

Noe Valley Home Sales*
Total Sales Low Price ($) High Price ($) Average Price ($) Average Days
on Market
Sale Price as
% of List Price
Single-family homes
December 2004 7 $675,000 $1,430,000 $1,074,286 22 110%
November 2004 12 $685,000 $1,625,000 $1,132,042 29 110%
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%
Condominiums
December 2004 2 $1,135,000 $1,353,000 $1,244,000 18 116%
November 2004 11 $387,500 $1,270,000 $862,591 35 108%
December 2003 0 - - - - -
November 2003 7 $445,000 $751,000 $582,286 36 105%
2 to 4 unit buildings
December 2004 2 $1,350,000 $1,535,000 $1,442,500 92 100%
November 2004 1 $1,301,000 $1,301,000 $1,301,000 38 100%
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%
5+ unit buildings
December 2004 0 - - - - -
November 2004 0 - - - - -
December 2003 2 $1,350,000 $1,950,000 $1,650,000 42 111%
November 2003 0 - - - - -

Noe Valley Rents**
Type of Unit Number in Sample Range of Rents Average Rent per Month
Studio 6 $1075-$1350 $1208
1 bedroom 15 $1299-$2000 $1532
2 bedrooms 11 $1695-$3200 $2521
3 bedrooms 4 $2050-$3100 $2600
4 bedrooms 1 $4950-$4950 $4950

*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.

**These rent averages are based on a sample of 37 Noe Valley rental listings appearing on www.craigslist.com on Jan. 17 and 18, 2005.