<\/p>\n
This recent spike is San Francisco home prices unlike anything seen in the city since 2022, but even now, prices are still below 2022 levels after adjusting for inflation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lea Suzuki\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n
San Francisco\u00a0home prices<\/a> reached a new record in March. Kind of.<\/p>\n The median sale price for single-family homes in San Francisco was $2.15 million last month, according to real estate brokerage Compass, clearing the previous high of $2.05 million in 2022. And it was a massive jump from the median of $1.65 million at the start of the year. Even the beleaguered condominium market saw prices near $1.4 million for the first time since 2022.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s just homes that are selling.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Patrick Carlisle, Compass\u2019 chief market analyst, pointed to the wealth conjured by the artificial intelligence boom<\/a>. Despite stock market volatility and the Iran war, the sort of events that usually cool the housing market, AI workers have continued to make the kind of pulse-quickening offers of Realtors\u2019 dreams and middle-income buyers\u2019 nightmares.<\/p>\n This recent spike is unlike anything seen in the city since 2022, but even now, home prices are still below 2022 levels after adjusting for inflation. What\u2019s more, there are precious few homes to choose from, thanks to a longstanding housing shortage that\u2019s only thinned further as homeowners hesitate<\/a> to put their properties on the market.<\/p>\n That lack of supply drives up prices, but it also creates a bias. The San Francisco market has been hottest at the top, with some real estate agents struggling to find<\/a> enough luxury homes for everyone who wants to buy one. The type of homes sold \u2014 pristine three-bedroom houses versus fixer-upper condos, for example \u2014 has a major effect on the median sale price in a given month.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n In other words, the record median sale price could reflect two different phenomena: First, that the typical home is also getting more valuable; and second, buyers are purchasing fancier homes more often.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Some data indicates this may be the case. Last year, 60% of all S.F. homes (including condos) sold for less than $1.5 million, according to Compass. In the first quarter of this year, that share had come down to about half.<\/p>\n And real estate company Zillow estimated that the typical value of a single-family house in San Francisco \u2014 the estimated amount a mid-value home in the city would sell for \u2014 was about $1.45 million in February, the latest month for which data was available. That was certainly up from $1.38 million a year ago, but still much lower than the median sale price of nearly $2 million.<\/p>\n Unlike Compass\u2019 data, Zillow\u2019s estimates are smoothed to reduce errant spikes. But the home values would have to see a massive surge to break the $2 million mark.<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s possible\u00a0Zillow\u2019s data lags a reality that\u2019s only visible at the point of transaction. Carlisle, the Compass analyst, said while high demand for nicer houses is \u201ccertainly part of the equation,\u201d he also believes that competition is pushing up values \u2014 not just prices \u2014 very quickly across the board.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n All in all, it\u2019s undeniable that San Francisco\u2019s housing market has heated up. Home values have risen by about 5% over the past year after sitting flat for the preceding two years. And other data sources indicate that homes that do sell are going for way over asking.<\/a><\/p>\n