With the number of homes newly listed for sale over the past week having outpaced the number of new contracts written, the inventory of homes on the market in San Francisco has ticked up one (1) percent to 1,040, which is 8 percent higher than at the same time last year and a new 8-year high.

While the year-over-year gain in inventory levels is still being driven by listings for condos, which are currently up 13 percent on a year-over-year basis, not including the vast majority of new construction condos for sale across the city, the number of single-family homes on the market ticked up 6 percent over the past week and now totals 360, which is effectively even with the same time last year.

At the same time, the percentage of active listings which have undergone at least one price reduction increased 3 percentage points to 23 percent, which is even with the same time last year despite a growing number of unsold properties having been relisted anew with a reduced asking price, but no official reductions according to MLS-based stats, while the percentage of homes on the market with a price tag of a million dollars or less has dropped to 26 percent, which is nearly 8 percentage points lower than at the same time last year, increasing the share of more expensive listings and resultant sales.

Once again, if typical patterns hold, inventory levels have likely peaked for the year.  But with year-to-date home sales in San Francisco running at an 8-year low, inventory levels could tick up another point or two before dropping through December.

6 thoughts on “Inventory Levels Inch Up, Reductions on the Rise”
  1. I’ve been watching properties just sit at their 2015 sale price with no offers and then have to take a price reduction to fall below it. 72 Townsend #309 (see name link) is the latest example, now listed $100K under its 2015 price.

    1. So you’re saying that home prices have “crashed” back to their 2015 levels? Sorry but that’s just delusional. As for your property in the example it’s STILL $1350/sqft for a loft so someone clearly overpaid in 2015.

      1. Factually speaking, that’s incorrect. In fact, condos tend to outperform single-family homes in a bull market. But in addition to the condo market being more volatile, with higher highs and lower lows, it remains a leading indicator for the market(s) as a whole.

  2. Another factor that will make California and San Francisco real estate less desirable is the rent control law recently signed by Newsom. It is 70% of what the initiative rejected by voters last year entailed. There is a 15 year window on apartments that will fall under the law – older than 15 years. But that mutes many apartments built because of Costa. How long will that 15 year exemption last? While single family homes and condos are exempt from the new law, they are not exempt from significantly more restrictive eviction rules in the new bill. It is hard enough to evict a SFH/condo tenant now – this will make it all the more prohibitive for mom and pop landlords. How will this impact proposed apartment projects in SF? Yeah, they fall under the 15 year window but how long will that last – make mine Seattle. As more and more developers are saying.

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