One of the nearly 100 homes listed for sale in San Francisco for which the asking price has recently been reduced, the three-bedroom, single-family Excelsior District home at 159 Dublin Street was foreclosed upon in 2013 with no bidders at $584,000 in cash on the courthouse steps.
Listed for $850,000 ($630 per square foot) this past August, the asking price for 159 Dublin has just been reduced to $679,900 ($504 per square foot). And according to the listing, the buyer will take possession at the close of escrow (although the lack of interior photos might raise a flag or two).
Including the property above, there are currently 94 single-family homes listed for sale in San Francisco for under a million dollars and 190 condos, not including new construction.
Probably needs $100,000 in renovations. Still…
Sold for $35,000 in the 1970’s.
How many under $700K?
Good to feature examples to show that one can buy a place in SF on less than a $250,000 income. But still…$680,000 for this place is depressing. Only about 3 years ago, places like this (really, nicer than this) cost only about $400,000 around here — could have been done on about a $100k income.
[Editor’s Note: And back in 2006, homes around here averaged $564 per square foot (which would be $761,000 for the home above).]
Good point editor – of course, in 2006 you could buy a $761,000 home with nothing down, no income, and no job! And many did just that.
It might not be in such bad shape, we live semi close to here and for that type of house (there are a lot), that new price sounds like a more appropriate list price although it may have a very good view given that it’s on a hill. Prices have been rising a lot in the Excelsior and there is a noticeably growing influx of new wealthier residents in the area, especially families, so this might not be a bad investment. As soon as someone opens something on Mission that appeals to all the new residents, I think the changes in the neighborhood’s demographics will become very apparent and things will really take off.
List price is currently an illusion for those looking to buy in the sub million range.
If current trends continue, 679,000 really means a sale price of 779,000 to 800,000. I started the quarter looking to buy in that range and quickly determined that it was better to rent and wait for the next correction/plateau. This range puts you in neighborhoods that will be hard to make interesting for some time, these are not Divisadero or Hayes street-like by any means, no matter where you look in the City or other sub million locations.
Also no seasonality, Twitter or startup layoffs seem to be impacting sale prices. This will only change when more like me who can buy decide to wait. Its better to rent in the area you like instead of being stuck in a house in marginal neighborhood that will be first to drop in value and last to rise. Don’t buy into the realtors hype!
Goodluck with this plan Bob, there would need to be a major event to send prices of single family homes down to submillion territory in more desirable neighborhoods. If that happened, the economy would be so crippled that most people waiting on the sidelines would be powerless to buy anyway.
Your comment also assumes that neighborhoods in the city are static and unchanging when history shows that with every boom the city pushes its limits of desirability outward as neighborhoods improve. This last boom has pushed neighborhoods like Bernal and Mission over the gentrification hump in just 5 years and similarly raised the status of Excelsior and Bayview from bad to marginal. The next boom or two will most likely continue that trend and all those who didn’t get into the less desirable neighborhoods when they had the chance will probably be complaining about the price of housing in Daly City.
Bernal started gentrifying in the 80’s, for some historical reality. Gentrification is a process that usually takes a lot of time. I certainly sympathize with someone who doesn’t want to make a high priced bet on a marginal area, particularly if you can’t think in terms of a decade at least.
And long term investment, plus actually being a part of the community, instead of hoping a cool restaraunt moves in eventually while cocooning oneself in a commute bubble, is not really “living in the city” for many of us.
I lived at Divisadero and Turk for 15 years and the gentrification that made it the latest cause celebre in foodie and real estate circles did not really start until 5 years ago. In the prior ten years we heard/witnessed six homicides, countless mugging and property crimes, and even now that particular micro hood lacks the gentrification happening just a few blocks away. Not surprisingly just a few blocks away from the projects.
Cocooning yourself is really more about the individual than the neighborhood. The marginal hoods are best for those who can appreciate a neighborhood’s current condition and culture but who also have the vision and interest to shape where it’s going. It’s a long term investment that I get is not for everyone but tends to pay off for those who can do it.
Yes, Bernal was slowly gentrifying for decades but like so many other neighborhoods, that gentrification reached a tipping point that sped up the process immensely and the neighborhood quickly went from “too far out” and “undesirable” to completely unaffordable in the last couple of years.
Many of the current marginal neighborhoods are also technically well into the gentrification process but to the casual outsider it’s not that obvious yet. I’d be willing to bet (and I guess I have) that many of these neighborhoods will also reach a tipping point that will take a lot of people by surprise and then quickly become unaffordable as well. When that time will be is anybody’s guess but if you do your homework on major development, job centers and infrastructure upgrades it’s not that hard to figure out and make a reasonably informed investment based on where gentrification is heading.
But I do sympathize as well with someone that doesn’t want to take the risk, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’ve had sleepless nights wondering about all this but not a lot of options and SF historically only gets more expensive.
Excellent analysis.
If I can vote for anyone deserving prosperity based on vision, sacrifice, and luck, I would vote for you.
All true Alex 740, and I’m willing to invest the time and energy, as was the case with my last place, except when the obvious realtor snow job ensues and they try to convince me that a place in the Oceanview that sold for 450,000 in 2010, and is listed at 599,000 now, needs to be bid at 700-775, because it is “adjacent” to the Warriors stadium and Lennar’s 20 year plan for Hunter’s Point! That’s seriously long-term planning for anyone over 30 with children and other investment needs.
The listing fails to mention that it’s steps away from the imfamous crocker-amazon children’s playground.
UPDATE: The sale of 159 Dublin has closed escrow with a reported contract price of $650,000.