2nd Quarter San Francisco Sales

Each quarter we summarize sales for the previous three months and compare them to the previous four quarters.  We've just posted 2nd quarter data for San Francisco.  The residential real estate business is full of statistics -- so why is this one any different?  Basically, rather than lumping all homes together to calculate an overall average for the city, our report looks at five categories of single family homes and condos that share the same bedroom/bath configuration and tracks them on a monthly and quarterly basis.

For single family homes, we look at two configurations:  basic "starter" homes with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, and larger 3-bedroom, 2-bath homes.  Together these two configurations make up approx. 45-50% of single family home sales (varies slightly from month-to-month). 

For condos, we look at three configurations:  1-bedroom/1-bath, 2-bedroom/1-bath and 2-bedroom/2-bath.  These represent approx. 58% of all sales.

Our report also includes 2-, 3- and 4-unit buildings.  100% of these properties are surveyed.

In addition to city-wide statistics, we break it down to each of the ten real estate districts. 

Here are some highlights from this quarter's report comparing 2nd quarter 2011 with 2nd quarter 2010:

• The average sales price of 2-bed/1-bath single family homes has dropped 8%.  The number of sales was up slightly.
• The average sales price of 3-bed/2-bath single family homes has increased 3% with the total number of sales down slightly.
• The average sales price for the three categories of condos we survey is down by 1 - 3%.  The number of sales of 1-bed/1-bath condos is down by almost 20% but up 5% for 2-bed/2-bath units.
• Average sales price for 2- and 3-unit buildings declined 14% and 6% respectively but is up 9% for 4-unit buildings.

Keep in mind that the 2nd quarter of last year saw a "frenzy" of sales as buyers rushed to take advantage of the federal and state tax incentives being offered.  It's encouraging to see that this year's 2nd quarter activity levels are largely back to 2010 without the stimulus effect of the tax incentives.