House-Like Russian Hill Gem Drops Below its 2016 Price
February 22, 2019
The three-bedroom Russian Hill townhome at 2201 Leavenworth street, which offers “fabled Bay views,” a remodeled kitchen with a restored Wedgewood stove, and stacked parking for two cars in its garage below, and access to the building’s shared roof deck above, last traded hands for $3.2 million in March of 2016, establishing a neighborhood comp at $1,576 per square foot.
This past September, the 2,030-square-foot home returned to the market listed for $3.195 million, pitching: “This is San Francisco. .. Don’t miss out!”
And having been reduced to $2.795 million at the beginning of the year, the list price for 2201 Leavenworth has just been reduced anew to $2.695 million, a sale at which certainly wouldn’t be “cheap” at $1,328 per square foot, but it would represent total deprecation of 15.8 percent for the “House-like Russian Hill Gem” since the first quarter of 2016 on an apples-to-apples (versus “median price”) basis.
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Russian hill and Bernal heights are now both $1300/ft.
That’s incorrect.
While a much smaller home with room for expansion can certainly fetch $1,300 a foot, Bernal Heights continues to trade at a double-digit discount to Russian Hill, at least factually speaking and on average.
Which brings us back to the actual home, apple and new pricing at hand…
North slope? Just like old times…
We see some occasional 1300 /ft there. Seems like 1200 for nice properties is pretty common. And no, it need not be North Slope any more. Bernal Heights was one of those neighborhoods that continued to grow in value even during the subprime crisis, and now here we are, 1200 / 1300 a foot being common.
Values in Bernal dropped in 2008, along with the rest of the top tier neighborhoods, as the knock-on effects of the subprime crisis spread. And on average (i.e., most commonly), prices in Bernal have yet to break the $1,100 mark (over either the past year or even six months).
Yes they are at ~1050. I was looking only at 2M and up sales prices from 1/1/18 and they’re well over 1100.
Of course, Bernal sales of $2 million or more have represented the vast minority (less than 20 percent) of the market over the past year. But it’s true, the most expensive homes do tend to sell for more than average.
Well, the smaller ones tend to sell for more than average, mostly. And they might be complete wrecks. More expensive + larger homes might not in a dollars per foot sense. .
Very Surprising. That’s a nice property – with parking – in a desirable location.
Lots of stairs and no elevator. I’m tired just from looking at the listing!
And the laundry is in the garage. Carry your laundry outside and up all those steps? Ha ha, not gonna happen with a family of 4. Room for one tiny loveseat and a chair in the living room. Eat in kitchen with teensy, tiny table and barely room for 4 chairs. 3rd bedroom appears to be missing a closet. View of power lines outside the master bedroom and the deck.
So we have the minor problem with this being a 3 bedroom home+office, but a disaster of a layout for a family, and the views are all full of power lines. You put up with all of this when there’s on a handful of properties listed in 2016 and everything is flying off the market in an hour, but no one buys this thing at anything other than a deep discount in 2019 with 50% more listings.
The owner has already moved out and is likely desperate to sell. I’d wait until they drop the price to 2.4 and then make a bid.
Anybody who buys this house will not be doing their own laundry.
Why? This was on the short list of homes I looked at and passed on. I still do the laundry in my new home.
I was a fly on the wall at Sotheby’s sales meetings and stairs could make or break a listing among the set of buyers they catered to there.
That’s certainly true. But keep in mind that there are no more stairs in this home than there were when it traded – and established a non-elevator comp – back in the first quarter of 2016.
While this would have been true also in 2016 when it sold for a higher price, in my experience homes with 8-foot ceilings (of which this appears to have several) suffer disproportionately when the market cools. Similar to being on a busy street or corner or other less-than-optimal location. Buyers overlook these things when under market stress, but not when they have more attractive options.
overpaid the previous time it was bought
way too irregular overall for that price range. stairs are major drawback for anyone with kids or seniors visiting and garage is 4 cars and laundry stuffed into a shoe box. And that stove – even if it had to still go thru the wall, that should’ve been SS to match the fridge.
i feel like it should’ve been a duplex with an owner’s unit instead of equal owner/users.
And it’s right next door to 1116 Greenwich Street, which didn’t do too well, either.
Wasn’t the rationalization for 1116 Greenwich Street having sold for 6.2 percent below its 2015 price, despite offering a $50,000 bonus to the buyer’s agent, that it didn’t have parking or front the street?
The price homebuyers are willing to pay for sub-par stock, even though it has a great view, has peaked. This home has little privacy, no outdoor open space and the other things that have been mentioned. Those buyers who can afford these kind of prices can get much more in Sausalito, the San Mateo Hills off of 280 and the East Bay Hills. A good number of people making the money necessary to afford a place like this have creative work situations. Telecommuting being a big one for techie folks especially. If one can work from home several days a week and can afford a 3 million dollar home and has a young family there are so many belter options than this. Just a few miles outside of SF proper.
The view is just about the only reason to buy this, since you get little else. What lovely white walls you have!
From a Redfin agent’s notes on the property following a walk-through this weekend: “Incredible location atop Russian Hill with water views. Multi-level living with inviting front room make this a must-see.”
Yucky earthtone paintjob. This Streamline Moderne building cries out to be white with navy blue trim.
Didn’t sell at 16% off its 2016 price. Listing removed.