City To Pay Luxury Price For Affordable Mission District Development
July 8, 2015

The City of San Francisco has agreed to pay $18.5 million for the former “Quality Tune-Up” site at 490 South Van Ness Avenue and 16th Street in the Mission, a site which was purchased by a developer for $2.65 million in 2009 and successfully entitled for the building of 72 units of housing last year.

Assuming the purchase is approved by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on July 28, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development will then issue a request for proposals from developers to build out the site as permanently affordable rental housing for families, serving three-person households earning up to $55,000 and four-person households earning up to $61,150.

At at negotiated price of $18.5 million, that’s $256,944 per entitled unit, not including the cost of construction.

And at $256,944 per unit, that’s a premium of at least 30 percent above the average price which market-rate developers have been paying for sites around the city and “more than most luxury developers have been spending,” according to a plugged-in local developer.

Articles and photos sourced from www.socketsite.com

Noe Valley’s New Second Most Expensive Home
June 17, 2015

Purchased as a “pride-of-ownership” Mid-Century home for $1.51 million in late 2012, the Noe Valley three-bedroom at 471 Hoffman was gutted, expanded, and returned to the market a month ago as a contemporary five-bedroom, with four levels, an abundance of stairs (and no elevator), and a list price of $5.7 million.

Yesterday, the sale of 471 Hoffman closed escrow with a reported contract price of $6.7 million, making it the second most expensive home in Noe, behind the recent $7 million sale of 553 Elizabeth and ahead of the ‘T-House’ at 526 Duncan which fetched $6.1 million in 2011.

Articles and photos sourced from: www.socketsite.com

San Francisco’s most expensive home sales in 2014

At $23.5 million, 2520 Pacific Ave. was the most expensive home sale of 2014. According to the Wall Street Journal, University of Phoenix founder John Murphy decided to list the 13,000-square-foot home (complete with a Prohibition-era secret bar) for $27 million back in November 2013. It sold March 31, 2014, one of only a handful of homes in the city to have sold for over $20 million in the last few years.

The University of Phoenix also figured into the second-highest sale of 2014. 3450 Washington St.—owned by John V. Sperling, son of another University of Phoenix founder—sold in February for $18 million. The Presidio Heights home was one of several in the neighborhood to score a top sale this year. In fact, in the 15 top transactions of this year, all but one took place in either Presidio Heights or neighboring Pacific Heights, despite reports that the northern neighborhoods are cooling off while southern neighborhoods like Noe Valley are heating up.

In fact, the only home outside of these northern enclaves to break the top-15 is 737 Buena Vista Heights, which sold for $10 million in October. Other unique sales include 2000 Washington St. Unit 3, which was the only co-op to make the list at $9.4 million, and 2735-2737 Baker St. which is the only 2-unit property to break the top 15 at $8.75 million.

2735-2737 Baker St. sold just before Thanksgiving, and of course, the year isn’t over yet, so another big-ticket home could sneak in a sale before the end of the year. (After all, the Willis Polk mansion at 2820 Pacific sold on December 27, 2007, and is one of the biggest S.F. sales in the last 10 years at $16 million.) It seems the high-high end of the market never rests, not even for the holidays.

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Finally, for $8.6 million, 2800 Pacific Ave. sold at the end of April

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A two-unit building with amazing views, 2735-2737 Baker St. sold for $8.75 million.

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 3725 Washington St. sold for $8.9 million.

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At $9.4 million, 2000 Washington St., Unit 3, is the only co-op unit to make the list.

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2090 Vallejo, which sold in July.

To see the complete list, visit SF Gate:  http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2014/12/16/the-most-expensive-home-sales-in-2014/#photo-566989 

Real Estate Roundup: San Francisco Home Price Gains Decelerate by 20 Percent

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious:

CONSIDERABLE COOLING IN SAN FRANCISCO PRICE APPRECIATION
Annual home price gains slowed in more than half of the major U.S. real estate markets in October, even as the median sales price reached a 73-month high.

According to RealtyTrac’s October 2014 Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report, the national median sales price for single-family homes and condominiums was $193,000 in October, a 16 percent year-over-year gain and the highest since September 2008. The company says that annual home price gains decelerated in 54 percent of large U.S. metro areas, including Northern California’s two biggest regions.

Real estate prices in the San Francisco metro area were up 12 percent year over year in October, compared with 34 percent one year ago, RealtyTrac’s data shows. A chart accompanying the report also shows an appreciation drop-off in the San Jose region, albeit a less dramatic one than its neighbor to the north.

OLD-GROWTH TREES ADD BIG VALUE TO LUXURY PROPERTIES
Add towering, majestic trees to the long list of amenities that luxury homebuyers will pay up for, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Old-growth white oak and bay trees were a big draw for Sonoma homebuyers Mac and Leslie McQuown when they purchased a former sheep ranch in the city nearly two decades ago. In 2006, the couple bought more than 40 130-year-old Sevillano olive trees for $2,200 each and had them transported almost 300 miles to the property. The article says that each olive tree would now command about $5,000.

The Wall Street Journal notes that while some deep-pocketed homeowners may choose to transplant trees, those over 12 feet tall cannot be moved over freeways or bridges. Wes Kocher, a spokesman for nonprofit organization International Society of Arboriculture, told the publication that homes with mature, well-tended trees can fetch premiums of up to 20 percent when they sell.

U.S. RENTS RISING FASTER THAN INFLATION RATE
Renters hoping for a little pricing relief may not get it in the upcoming year, predicts a recent MarketWatch report.

Citing data from the National Association of Realtors, the publication says that rents are expected to increase by 3.9 percent in 2015, down from this year but still more than double the projected consumer inflation rate. The article notes that low housing inventory and a lack of affordability are keeping demand for rental units high and vacancy rates low.

The U.S. apartment vacancy rate is 4 percent in the fourth quarter of this year, and although rates are predicted to inch up over the next two years, the market will still likely be skewed in favor of landlords.

(Photo: Flickr/Images Money)