With roughly 700 new condominiums for sale in San Francisco, 80 percent more than there were at the same time last year, the rate of sales appears to be slowing.
While contracts for an average of 79 new condos have been signed per month over the past year, according to The Mark Company, contracts for only 60 units were signed in August, which is 12 percent fewer than during the same month last year and 39 percent fewer than in July with typical seasonality in play.
The Mark Company’s Condominium Pricing Index was up 4 percent from July to August, up 20 percent year-over-year, but is highly susceptible to changes in the mix of sales, both in terms of the type of units selling and the buildings in which they’re being sold.
What does “roughly 700 new condominiums for sale” mean? Are these 700 new condominiums available for sale right now? Or will be available for purchase in a couple of years? When will they be available for moving in?
If it is 700 new condominiums on the market right now, the market is big trouble. That’s a 11-month supply, which equals a housing bust.
[Editor’s Note: Units for which a contract could be signed, but the majority of which are still under construction. Condos under construction or otherwise in the development the pipeline but without an active sales office are not included in the numbers above.]
8 less condos were sold this August vs. last August. Not sure this is headline news. Maybe with 2 or 3 months of trending data. Will be interesting to see the activity post labor day and how that compares to last year.
SF Biz times in April: “Condos are being resold for 17 percent more than they were this time last year, averaging $1,006 a square foot for the first time… the price increases come amid anemic supply – just 651 new condo units and 198 resales are on the market, according to the report. That represents just one month’s worth of inventory, tilting the market far in favor of sellers.” –So which is it? I’m cornfuzed!
The points are not inconsistent. We may still be in a sellers’ market, but perhaps less strongly so than recently.
That 700 probably doesn’t count the One Rincon north tower, I expect.
With respect to post labor day activity and the trend: New Condo Sales in SF Drop YOY, Prices Slip from September.