January is normally a quiet month in terms of market activity, but this January was a repeat of last January with unusual high activity. Coming on the heels of a mediocre fall market we may be on to a new seasonal dynamic in San Francisco.

The fall market is generally a time when sellers were advised to sell, summer vacations are over and kids are back to school. But the last two fall cycles- buyers were not buying and waited until January and February to kick it up. The dynamic is changing, logic prevails, it’s still all about supply and demand. When inventory is high, buyers have choice, which equates to negotiating power.

Looking back at an overview of the 2019 Bay Area market, after years of high appreciation rates, median home prices went down a bit, went up a little bit or remained unchanged as compared to 2018; depending on where you lived. San Francisco hit new quarterly price highs in spring of 2019 (amid all the IPO excitement), but ended up the year flat for houses and a little up for condos. Since there has been so much new luxury condo construction in recent years, year-over-year median price comparisons from 2016 to 2019 may not be exactly apples to apples.

Q4 2019 San Francisco residential real estate market report in Sea Cliff and the Lake Street Corridor covering pricing, trends, activity and insight in our neighborhood

Q3 2010 San Francisco residential real estate market report in Sea Cliff and the Lake Street Corridor covering pricing, trends, activity and insight in our neighborhood

Q3 2019 San Francisco multifamily market report covering pricing trends, cap rates, rent growth, and investment activity

Q2 2019 San Francisco residential real estate market report in Sea Cliff and the Lake Street Corridor covering pricing, trends, activity and insight in our neighborhood

Q1 2019 San Francisco multifamily market report covering pricing trends, cap rates, rent growth, and investment activity