Purchased for $1.025 million in June of 2015, the “coveted corner one-bedroom” unit #807 in the One Rincon Hill tower at 425 1st Street returned to the market priced at $975,000 this past July.

The 819-square-foot unit features “a sleek, modern open-plan layout,” with a private terrace off the main living area; a contemporary kitchen; and an expansive, and insulated, window line overlooking the building’s garden deck and pool, with panoramic City, and partial Bridge, views beyond.

And while the index for Bay Area condo values is up 24.6 percent since June of 2015, the resale of 425 1st Street #807 has now closed escrow with a contract price of $950,000, down 7.3 percent on an apples-to-apples basis over the same period of time.

16 thoughts on “Apples-to-Apples Versus Index for a Coveted One-Bedroom”
  1. Fabulous for those who desire living full time in a hotel/Apple Store hemmed in on all sides by freeways, sounded by absentee expat neighbors who are never there. Where do I sign up?

  2. do you guys know if you buy a condo for lower price than the previous owner paid for it as in this case, and consequentially lower price than the current “assessed value”, will your (new buyer) assessed value go down to your purchase price?

    in other words by the same token that the assessor will use a higher purchase price to establish a new assessed value, do they also do it when it’s a reduction?

    1. They should. And if they don’t, you can challenge the assessment, which I did back in 2011 when prices were still dropping yet they raised my property taxes. It did take a court appearance and bringing evidence (appraisal, various real estate data) for that to happen.

    2. thanks for the responses. i’m quite curious because i’m seeing some condos where they may have bought at the “height” of the market (i.e. “overpaid”) several years ago, for say 1.4M, and due to annual automatic ~3% increase, the assessed value is now up another 100K to 1.5M; but that same unit has been on the market and has not sold for even 1.3M now. that would be a substantial differential in property tax which is why i asked.

    3. Yes, I went through this. It won’t be an automatic adjustment like an increase is and you will likely be paying taxes on the current assessed value for 6 months or longer while you appeal the with the Assessor-Recorder (which will take some diligence on your part). Once the county accepts your purchase price as the assessed value and puts it on the books the difference in taxes you’ve already paid will be refunded to you.

  3. Not much privacy. Like being in a fishbowl with the surrounding buildings.
    The photos seem to show a larger terrace than the floorplan indicates.

    1. Yet somehow it was worth $75,000 more over six years ago. Apparently there is a hitherto unknown flaw in real estate pricing: what a property sells for and what it’s actually “worth” are two different things altogether! ;-p

      1. My comment wasn’t directed at the decline in sale price/value. I was reacting to the photos/floorplan. I would probably have made the same comment if it had gone up in value.

        1. My apologies. It’s standard form for the real estate industry cadre to respond with obfuscatory strawman hedges (“poor staging!” “bad neighborhood!” “no view!”) whenever the editor notes a loss, as if the defect(s) didn’t obtain when the property previously sold for more.

          1. No no, the part about where you rotely dissed someone and were totally off base because you don’t care whatsoever and say the same things over and over agin? That part. That’s what I meant.

  4. The kitchen layout in a little shoebox with a peekaboo window is literally something from 1960’s cheap and cheerful one beds up on twin peaks. Opening up the room and having a really nicely build island for that sink would do wonders.

    1. The kitchen layout works for this one bedroom unit. The open kitchen with island is played out…lots of people prefer the separation!

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