San Francisco Price Per Square Foot Soaring!
San Francisco homes cost $200,000 more today than 2 years ago!
Buyers and sellers are always in a search for a method to quickly and easily quantify value of real estate. One method often used is price per square foot. On the face of it price per square foot is a great way to compare one house to the next; simply divide the home’s asking price by the size of the home using the legal square footage. Using price per square foot it is easy to compare homes, condos, multi unit buildings, whole neighborhoods, and even see how San Francisco is trending over time. For instance the average price per square foot in Noe Valley is $865, and for Eureka Valley it is $841. The problem, particularly in San Francisco, is that every property is so different from each other. Price per square foot won’t take into account location, view, layout, and any number of things that make a particular house special. When using price per square foot as an average for a whole neighborhood the number will be skewed by both the homes that sold for way above and below the average, and since San Francisco homes are so different from one to another the skew will be large. As an example there aren’t any 1000 square foot homes for sale in Noe Valley for $865,000 ($865 multiplied by 1000 square feet) which the average price per square foot of $865 in Noe Valley would suggest there should be. The least expensive home in Noe Valley today is over $1,100,000.
The good news is that price per square foot will offer a quick sense of how a particular neighborhood is trending, and it can be a good starting point for understanding a properties value. Let’s say you are interested in a home that is listed for close to what the average price per square foot is for that particular neighborhood, you can then ask the question is this an average house? How is the location, the view, the layout etc? If the answer to these questions is that they are all above average it is much easier to understand that the house will probably sell for more than the average price.
Price per square foot in San Francisco for condos and houses have gone up from about $500 per square foot in February 2012 to about $685 per square foot in June 2014! That means on average a 1000 square foot property costs almost $200,000 more today than it did a bit over two years ago. This includes every neighborhood in all ten districts from the Marina to Hunter’s Point and Mission Bay to the Outer Sunset.
Want to discuss the pricing of your home or a home you are considering putting an offer on? I can explain the history of the neighborhood, how it has been trending, and who your competition will most likely be. Send me an email and let’s find a time to talk!
Take a look at the neighborhood section of my blog and choose a neighborhood you would like more information about including the homes for sale, a bit of local info, a video about the district, and a video about the current market trends!
Check it out: San Francisco Neighborhoods
