Noe Valley Voice July-August 2008
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The Cost of Living in Noe: Home Sales Edge Up in May

By Corrie M. Anders

Noe Valley experienced a fresh spate of home sales in May, as homebuyers closed escrow on 14 residential properties, the highest monthly total so far this year.

According to monthly data supplied to the Voice by Zephyr Real Estate, sales of single-family detached homes have inched up almost steadily since the first of the year. There were 7 transactions recorded in January, 8 in February, 11 in March, and 10 in April.

May's buyers, on average, paid 5 percent more than the seller's asking price. And front-door keys were exchanged in about a month's time. That data indicates that Noe Valley remains one of San Francisco's most desirable neighborhoods.

Still, the average sales price for May 2008 ($1.4 million) was about 20 percent lower than a year ago. The average price in May of 2007 was nearly $1.8 million. Noe Valleyans should not put too much stock in the comparison, however. Our monthly sample size is too small: 14 homes this year, and 12 last year.

In May '08, the properties with "all the bells and whistles [were] the ones attracting a lot of attention and selling for more than 5 percent over," said Zephyr real estate agent Rob Rogers. "They're more like 10 and 20 percent over."

Rogers said trade-up buyers, with wallets filled with cash from stock sales or equity from sales of another home, propelled those May house sales. "A lot of people were buying with cash," Rogers said. They can forgo the hefty bank loan.

With condos, it's a different story. Zephyr reported only three condominium sales in May, compared with seven in April and 11 in May of last year.

Rogers said "consumer confidence is down" among buyers in the market for condos, which generally cost considerably less than detached homes.

Those buyers "are more reliant on [mortgage] loans, and I think they're a little scared about interest climbing into the upper 6 percent--and that takes some of the affordability away."

May's priciest home and the most expensive condo were both found in the southern half of Noe Valley.

A tri-level home with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, 3,600 square feet of living space, and a one-car garage sold for $2,675,000. It sits on the 700 block of 27th Street between Douglass and Diamond streets.

And buyers paid $1,249,000 for a condo in a two-unit, Marina-style building that featured three bedrooms and two baths. The 1,699-square-foot home is also located on 27th Street, between Church and Dolores streets.

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
May 2008 14 $850,000 $2,675,000 $1,409,714 33 105%
April 2008 10 $935,000 $2,200,000 $1,534,000 17 104%
May 2007 12 $925,000 $2,950,000 $1,765,000 28 105%
Condominiums
May 2008 3 $525,000 $1,249,000 $783,333 23 102%
April 2008 7 $800,000 $1,700,000 $1,174,000 31 105%
May 2007 11 $340,000 $1,410,000 $880,818 31 105%
2 to 4 unit buildings
May 2008 4 $1,185,000 $2,000,000 $1,615,000 23 104%
April 2008 3 $1,500,000 $1,575,000 $1,550,000 37 105%
May 2007 7 $1,296,000 $2,200,000 $1,561,571 33 103%
5+ unit buildings
May 2008 0 - - - - -
April 2008 0 - - - - -
May 2007 1 $3,114,000 $3,114,000 $3,114,000 154 102%

*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, May-June 2008 Average Rent, May-June 2008 Average Rent, May-June 2007
Studio 6 $1300-$1600 $1433 $1416
1 bedroom 29 $1500-$2600 $2023 $1909
2 bedrooms 23 $2280-$3600 $2854 $2402
3 bedrooms 10 $2800-$5500 $3902 $3535
4+ bedrooms 6 $3750-$10,400 $6041 $4925

**These rent averages are based on a sample of 74 Noe Valley rental listings appearing on www.craigslist.com from May 26 to June 15, 2008.