July San Francisco Real Estate Insider
San Francisco real estate has recovered from the ashes of March and April. It is somewhat of a tale of two sub-markets; single family homes and condos. Houses; most any house in the core Bay Area is getting a lot of activity. If it’s priced well; it will sell quickly with multiple offers. If it’s not priced well, it will take longer to sell. On the other hand, condos are taking longer to sell. Why? More inventory and less demand. Currently, we have a five month supply of condos and a two month supply of houses. Many condo owners are selling and buying single family homes. Desire to live in multi-unit/HOA buildings has somewhat diminished. Plus, prospective condo buyers (often younger and less affluent than house owners) have been more affected by the huge jump in unemployment. But, condo’s in small buildings in A locations are still selling.
The median house price hit a new monthly high in June ($1.8M) and high-end houses in particular, have seen very strong demand. This applies to virtually every market in the Bay Area. More affluent buyers; the demographic least affected by COVID-19 and also having the greatest financial resources have been jumping back into the market to a greater degree than other segments.
The first chart below illustrates the big rebound in buyer demand, as the number of listings accepting offers in June 2020 rose slightly higher on a year-over-year basis. Of course, closed-sales volume - a lagging indicator - was hammered in Q2 by shelter in place.
High-end sales staged a particularly strong recovery reaching a new high as a percentage of total sales. This is one of the factors behind the median house sales price hitting a new peak in June.
As illustrated below, the house market (blue line) has performed much better than the condo market (purple line).
Three angles on median home sales price movements - annual, monthly and quarterly. While the median house price has hit a new peak, the median condo price has declined from its 2019 high.
Average days on market remained relatively low in Q2, though higher than Q2 in 2018 and 2019.
