Where Bay Area Homebuyers Are Paying the Biggest Premiums
Anyone who is shopping for a home in the Bay Area’s most coveted enclaves should be prepared for stiff competition from other buyers. As discussed in Pacific Union’s recent San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate and Economic Outlook to 2020, 65 percent of local homes have sold for more than asking price so far this year, up from 62 percent in 2016.
To find out where homebuyers should be prepared to dig the deepest to close a deal, we examined MLS data for the 60-plus Bay Area communities in which Pacific Union operates. The following analysis includes single-family home sales in November for the 10 places with the highest sales price as percentage of original price, with San Francisco districts accounting for 70 percent of them.
- San Francisco District 2: Buyers in San Francisco’s District 2, which includes the Sunset and Parkside neighborhoods, paid an average of 124.55 percent of original price in November, with the median sales price ending the month at $1.29 million. Homes in the district have sold for more than original price for every month over the past two years.
- San Francisco District 3: Homes in District 3, which is located in the southwestern corner of the city, commanded 117.58 percent of original price. The median sales price of $1.34 million is the second-highest recorded over the past two years.
- San Francisco District 4: Buyers in District 4 — which includes neighborhoods like West Portal, Diamond Heights, and St. Francis Wood — paid an average of 117.06 percent of asking price in November, the largest premium recorded over the past two year. The median sales price was $1.59 million, a year-over-year increase of 29 percent.
- Berkeley: Homebuyers in Berkeley have been paying significant premiums for every month of the past few years and that trend continued in November, with properties selling for 117.43 percent of asking price. For the 20th consecutive month, the median sales price was in the seven-digit range, ending November at $1.12 million.
- Oakland: Oakland‘s housing market is nearly as competitive — and expensive — as its neighbor to the north, with the average home fetching 116.44 percent of original price. The median sales price was $1.1 million, up 12 percent year over year. (Note that Pacific Union’s definition of Oakland includes only the following ZIP codes: 94602, 94609, 94610, 94611, 94618, 94619, and 94705.)
- San Francisco District 1: On the north side of Golden Gate Park, the average home in San Francisco’s District 1 sold for 113.97 percent of original price last month, pushing the median sales price up on both a monthly and annual basis to $1.925 million
- San Francisco District 10: In the city’s District 10, which includes the Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood, the average buyer paid 113.80 percent of asking price. This district was the only one in the city with a median single-family home price of less than $1 million, finishing November at $902,000.
- Alameda: The island city of Alameda is no longer a Bay Area secret, with homes selling for an average of 112.53 percent of asking price and for a median sales price of $990,000.
- San Francisco District 9: District 9 includes neighborhoods popular with younger tech workers, — like the Mission, Dogpatch, and South of Market — and single-family homes there sold for an average of 112.27 percent of asking price. The median sales price rose 17 percent year over year to end November at $1.635 million.
- San Francisco District 6: The final San Francisco district to make the largest-premiums list includes neighborhoods such as Lower Pacific Heights, Alamo Square, and Hayes Valley. There, homes sold for an average of 111.96 percent of original price for a median sales price of $2.67 million.
(Photo: iStock/courtneyk)