Noe Valley Voice June 2001
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Real Estate:
Condo-mania Isn't So Crazy

Noe Valley's condo market has calmed down. Now taking far longer to sell, the neighborhood's condominiums -- described as "attached homes" by real estate insiders -- were on the market an average of 74 days in April, compared to 19 days in March. Condos in April also didn't command top dollar as they did last year, when frenzied bidding wars forced buyers to pay well over the sellers' asking price. The most expensive was a $699,000 condo on Jersey Street.

The retrenchment for condos -- generally not a buyer's first choice for a home -- was part of an overall slowdown that saw increasingly more detached homes for sale and softer prices. "Everyone wants a big single-family home, so the first alternative to feel the impact of a change in the marketplace are condos and TICs [tenancies-in-common]," said Randall Kostick of Zephyr Real Estate. He added that buyers may have found they could afford to purchase a single-family home in some other neighborhood for approximately the same cost as a condo in Noe Valley.

Fifteen single-family homes sold in April, bouncing back from nine sales in March. Buyers paid more than what sellers asked -- an average 102 percent of the initial price tag -- but that was far below the 115 to 120 percent buyers paid during last year's hot market. The highest price recorded in April 2001 was $1.7 million for a home on Homestead Street.

Meanwhile, rents in Noe Valley have been holding steady this spring. The number of people looking for apartments is 30 to 40 percent below the number scouring the city this time last year, with many potential movers staying put to see if prices will decline further, said Walter Ellingwood of Rent Tech, Inc.

But the search for apartments will become more competitive "as you get towards the middle of summer," Ellingwood said. "July is probably the busiest month for people moving."--Corrie M. Anders

Noe Valley House Sales: April 2001*
Total Sales
(Closings During Month)
Low Price ($) High Price ($) Average Price ($) Average Days
on Market
Sale Price as % of List Price
Single-family homes 15 $561,000 $1,700,000 $894,533 20 102%
Condominiums 7 $300,000 $699,000 $440,000 74 98%
2 to 4 unit buildings 4 $585,000 $1,450,000 $1,116,250 57 98%
5+ unit buildings 0 - - - - -

Noe Valley House Sales: March 2001*
Total Sales
(Closings During Month)
Low Price ($) High Price ($) Average Price ($) Average Days
on Market
Sale Price as % of List Price
Single-family homes 9 $503,000 $1,250,000 $857,000 23 109%
Condominiums 6 $250,000 $850,000 $613,333 19 102%
2 to 4 unit buildings 6 $510,000 $1,206,000 $934,333 55 103%
5+ unit buildings 1 $1,740,000 $1,740,000 $1,740,000 28 116%

Noe Valley Rents**
Size of Apartment Average Rent,
October-December 2000
Average Rent,
January-March 2001
% increase or decrease
Studio $1273 $1313 +3.1%
1 bedroom $1913 $2088 +9.1%
2 bedrooms $2790 $2604 -6.7%
3+ bedrooms $4085 $3536 -13.4%

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

**Data based on rentals listed by Rent Tech Inc. (www.renttech.com) as of March 31, 2001.