Noe Valley Voice May 2006
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The Cost of Living in Noe

Market Relaxes a Bit

By Corrie M. Anders

Though it's still a million-dollar neighborhood, Noe Valley's housing market showed signs of moderation in March.

Eleven single-family homes closed escrow during the month, according to Zephyr Real Estate, which supplies monthly sales data to the Voice. The March total was one higher than in February, but five fewer than a year earlier during the red-hot seller's market.

Nine of the 11 homes cost more than $1 million--keeping up a three-year-long trend--and helped pushed the average house price in the neighborhood to $1.2 million.

But new homeowners in March took nearly six weeks to close escrow--two to three weeks more than in the past. Buyers also cut back on the amount they were willing to overpay for a home in Noe Valley. A year ago, they offered about 8 percent more than the asking price (16 percent more for condos). But this March, buyers sweetened the deal with a "mere" 6 percent extra.

The housing market in Noe Valley has been booming for the last five years. But in the past few months, rising mortgage interest rates--coupled with years of stratospheric appreciation that has made homes unaffordable for many would-be owners--have started to tamp down sales.

Randall Kostick, Zephyr's general sales manager, says this spring's sales activity is similar to that of three years ago.

"There was not a great amount of appreciation [in 2003], but there was a reasonable turnover of property," says Kostick. "It was not a difficult year for sellers and a good year for buyers."

The most expensive property in March 2006 sold for $2 million. The four-bedroom, 31/2-bath home, with almost 3,700 square feet of living space, is located in the 1200 block of Diamond Street between 26th and Cesar Chavez streets.

Six condominiums sold in March at an average sales price of slightly more than $1 million.

The costliest, selling for $1.5 million, was a three-bedroom, three-bath, 2,200-square-foot unit in the 800 block of Clipper Street near Grand View Avenue.

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
March 2006 11 $785,000 $2,000,000 $1,201,545 35 106%
February 2006 10 $827,500 $2,100,000 $1,415,650 20 99%
March 2005 16 $831,000 $2,662,000 $1,569,000 26 108%
Condominiums
March 2006 6 $610,000 $1,502,000 $1,094,333 46 106%
February 2006 3 $640,000 $1,280,000 $1,050,000 19 113%
March 2005 7 $695,000 $1,351,500 $947,786 21 116%
2 to 4 unit buildings
March 2006 3 $1,321,000 $1,706,000 $1,492,000 21 106%
February 2006 3 $1,150,000 $2,156,000 $1,592,167 53 103%
March 2005 8 $1,175,000 $2,099,000 $1,444,250 35 108%
5+ unit buildings
March 2006 0 - - - - -
February 2006 1 $1,500,000 $1,500,000 $1,500,000 118 95%
March 2005 1 $1,530,000 $1,530,000 $1,530,000 24 99%

*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.zephyrsf.com) for supplying the data.

Noe Valley Rents**
Type of Unit Number in Sample Range of Rents, April 2006 Average Rent, April 2006 Average Rent, One Year Ago
Studio 5 $1050-$1200 $1170 $1030
1 bedroom 21 $1100-$4455 $1791 $1472
2 bedrooms 21 $1700-$5045 $2724 $1874
3 bedrooms 11 $2450-$5245 $3735 $2750
4+ bedrooms 2 $4150-$8500 $6325 $5600

**These rent averages are based on a sample of 60 Noe Valley rental listings appearing on www.craigslist.com April 6 - April 15, 2006.