The 1,325-square-foot, two-bedroom unit #1002 at 1450 Franklin Street, a “luxury high rise building…in the heart of San Francisco’s quintessential neighborhoods,” has just sold for $1,500,000 or roughly $1,130 per square foot, which certainly isn’t cheap!
While not recorded on the MLS, however, the corner unit was purchased for $1,725,000 in July of 2017, setting a building and neighborhood comp at roughly $1,300 per square foot, meaning the “epitome of luxury living,” per Vanguard Properties, is now 13 percent cheaper than it was nearly seven years ago on an apples-to-apples basis, despite the fact that the widely misreported index for “San Francisco” condo values is “still up 12 percent!” over the same period of time.
And yes, a lower-floor two-bedroom in the same building only traded down 10 percent from 2017 last March, with an “over asking!” sale of another two-bedroom in the building last February, a sale that was down 8 percent from early 2017 on an apples-to-apples basis. Down 8 percent, down 10 percent, down 13 percent – it’s almost like there’s a trend.
Nothing about this location says “epitome of luxury” to me. Its a very busy intersection. There is constant traffic and this building is directly opposite an unattractive auto body shop which isn’t particularly quiet. For this kind of money, I would quit my job, take the $$ and live somewhere cheaper, where its nicer.
This price decrease makes sense given how demand for housing like this has slowed dramatically with higher interest rates, increasing work from home, and the prevalence of crime and social disorder in the city of San Francisco. It doesn’t feel like the market for high rise condos in San Francisco is anywhere near the bottom. But supply and demand can’t have had anything to do with it, amirite?
I understand the last sentence is supposed to be snark, but I can’t figure out what you’re trying to say with it.
Demand is being destroyed, not only by the factors you mentioned but also by the mass layoffs in the tech sector over the past fourteen months or so, which is the main sector of the local economy employing people — many of whom arrived here from outside the Bay Area to take “tech jobs” — at a wage level required to purchase a condo like this one.
We did not “build our way out of the affordable housing crisis”, which is what folks who tell us ad nauseam that everyone should believe housing in San Francisco is subject to the basic economic principle[s] of supply and demand say will produce decreasing housing prices.
And because prices are moving lower, developers are sitting on their entitlements and not building, because projects “don’t pencil out”.
Instead of just saying “this luxury high rise building is located in the heart of one of San Francisco’s quintessential neighborhoods”, or “…in the heart of San Francisco’s quintessential neighborhood”, the copy from the listing doesn’t actually let on as to what specific “quintessential neighborhood” this is in, which made me think the agent who wrote it was trying to induce the reader to believe it was located in a fancier area than it actually is. And sure enough, it looks like it isn’t really located in Pacific Heights, as that neighborhood stops at Pine St., and this address is SE of Bush St.
Real estate agent marketing hype is long standing joke, even among agents. It has little bearing on inducing buyer behavior. Listing agents do it to satisfy their seller client. The location isn’t considered Pac Heights. Its Cathedral Hill, or Van Ness Corridor. The ground floor of the building is office/retail.
Which is still a very fine neighborhood. I lived at Sutter and Gough and it was safe (this was in the early 2000s though and haven’t been in the city in a decade so can’t speak to it now) and very walkable with every amenity you’d need nearby.
Why can’t we just live honestly. Not everything has to be labeled super duper luxury prestigious.
The old cathedral hill hotel was on next block, it has been rebuilt as major hospital. Its good location for medical professionals.
Also a good location for retired/older folks who use medical services. Public transportation is good there. Neighborhood streets are flat and services are walkable. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are nearby.