November 2002 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

This year's stock market meltdown must have spared a few people.

Buyers recently paid more than $2 million for a huge house on Fair Oaks, a short but quaint street of Victorian-era homes located on the Mission side of Noe Valley. The house, unusually large for Fair Oaks, has five bedrooms and 31/2 baths.

The multimillion-dollar home was one of five single-family homes sold in September. That's one more than September of last year, when the stock market was considerably stronger.

Still, Noe Valley homebuyers have been paying closer attention to their pocketbooks. In September '02, for the first time in several years, buyers did not engage in making aggressive offers above the seller's original asking price. Sellers on average received 97 percent of their asking price, according to data supplied to the Voice by Zephyr Real Estate.

Also, there were fewer shoppers during late summer--an "old-economy" tradition. "The slowdown was getting [owners] to negotiate a little bit more and come down on their prices," explains Randall Kostick, sales manager at Zephyr's 24th Street office.

Another indication of penny-pinching: Buyers in September opted for condominiums as a less expensive alternative to higher-priced single-family homes. Ten condos closed escrow at an average price of $697,800. Compare that to September a year ago, when only four Noe Valley condos changed hands, at an average price of $755,000. However, this year's buyers were willing to cough up 3 percent over asking price.

The most expensive condo--a three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath unit on High Street (a tiny street above Grand View)--sold for an even $1 million.

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
September 2002	5	$690,000	$2,105,000	$1,075,400	37	97%
August 2002	10	$715,000	$1,410,000	$924,200	38	106%
September 2001	4	$585,000	$985,000	$752,000	15	105%
Condominiums
September 2002	10	$440,000	$1,000,000	$697,800	32	103%
August 2002	2	$640,000	$840,000	$740,000	27	110%
September 2001	4	$285,000	$1,550,000	$755,000	18	98%
2 to 4 unit buildings
September 2002	5	$685,000	$1,140,000	$888,000	30	104%
August 2002	3	$1,218,000	$1,500,000	$1,337,667	18	100%
September 2001	3	$700,000	$1,290,000	$915,333	37	97%
5+ unit buildings
September 2002	0
August 2002	0
September 2001	0

Noe Valley Rents**

Size of Apartment	Average Rents July-Sept. 2002	Average Rents one year ago July-Sept. 2001	% increase (+) or decrease (-)
Studio	$1079	$1220	-11.6%
1 bedroom	$1560	$1730	-9.8%
2 bedrooms	$2261	$2415	-6.4%
3+ bedrooms	$2744	$3118	-12.0%

*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 as the area bordered by Grand View, 22nd, Guerrero, and 30th streets.

**Data courtesy of Rent Tech, Inc (www.renttech.com)