San Francisco Housing Market Resumes Healthy Pace

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Home sales activity in San Francisco is returning to a healthy pace, according to the latest Market Focus report issued jointly by the Rosen Consulting Group and the San Francisco Association of REALTORS®. Driven partially by all-cash buyers and improved affordability, the robust increase in pending sales activity seen in recent months indicates that an increase in property sales is on the horizon.

By some estimates, all-cash buyers represent 20-30 percent of homebuyers in the San Francisco market, resulting from more stringent mortgage lending practices, as well as a growing demand for investment opportunities as yields for many common investments remain unattractive.

Single-Family Sales Rise by 20.7 Percent Year-Over-Year in January 2011

Completed single-family home sales in San Francisco rebounded during the month of January by 20.7 percent. Year-over-year single-family home sales rose at a noticeably accelerated pace in Districts 2 (Inner Sunset, Central Sunset, Outer Sunset, Parkside, Inner Parkside, Outer Parkside, and Golden Gate Heights)—72.2 percent and District 10 (Potrero Hill, Central Waterfront, Dogpatch, Bayview-Hunters Point, Bayview Heights, India Basin, Silver Terrace, Candlestick Point, Visitacion Valley, Little Hollywood, Sunnydale, McLaren Park, and part of Portola)—46.7 percent where the median sales prices in January 2011 were $619,000 and $414,250, respectively. Pending single-family home sales also increased by an impressive 37.5 percent year-over-year in January 2010, leading the Rosen Consulting Group to believe that the upward trend observed in property sales should continue at least through the early part of 2011.

At the current pending sales rate, this equates to a 2.9 months of supply inventory. By price segment, the months of supply inventory for homes priced less than $700,000 remains narrow at 2.3 months, while homes within the $700,000 to $1.2 million price range had 3.6 months and the supply of homes priced greater than $1.2 million edged upwards slightly from January 2010 to 4.6 months.

Pending Condominium Sales Increased by 25 Percent Year-Over-Year

The number of condominium sales in January 2011 remained unchanged in comparison to January 2010, with 119 sales completed during the month. In large part, a result of the increase in the number of condominium sales in the higher-priced segments of the market, the median sales price increased by 7.3 percent year-over-year to $665,000 in January 2011. As for-sale inventory levels dropped by 1.3 percent to 753 units for sale, and as pending sales activity jumped by 24.8 percent to 186 units, the months of supply inventory contracted to 4.0 from 5.1 months in January 2010. While the months of supply inventory for condominiums priced greater than $900,000 increased to 6.6 months, the inventory for more moderately-priced condominiums units tightened to 2.9 months in the $500,000 to $900,000 segments and 2.5 months for condominiums priced less than $500,000.

Despite the continued volatility in housing market statistics, the elevated housing affordability rate makes today an excellent time to buy for a qualified, long-term homebuyer. As job growth accelerates and credit availability increases through 2011, demand will respond and drive a continued tightening in market conditions, which should result in a more robust recovery during the coming year.

Real estate data in Market Focus is provided by Terradatum. Market Focus is written by the Rosen Consulting Group. For additional information on the real estate market or Market Focus, please contact:

San Francisco Association of REALTORS® 301 Grove Street San Francisco, CA 94102 415-431-8500 x 132 www.sfrealtors.com

Rosen Consulting Group 1995 University Avenue, Suite 550 Berkeley, CA 94707 510-549-4510 www.rosenconsulting.com

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