San Francisco Residential Real Estate

The shape of the market

San Francisco is mostly a city of renters, condominiums, and small apartment buildings. Detached and semi-detached single-family houses are concentrated in the southern and western neighborhoods — Bernal Heights, Glen Park, Noe Valley, Excelsior, Sunset, Parkside and others — and supply is effectively fixed. Very few new single-family homes get built, so inventory moves with owners’ decisions to sell rather than with construction.

That has two practical consequences. First, citywide statistics blur very different markets together; a median that mixes SoMa condos with Noe Valley houses tells a buyer almost nothing. Second, neighborhood-level single-family numbers are based on small samples, which is why the market reports on this site separate property types and report rolling three-month figures.

How a San Francisco sale typically works

Customs vary by property and agent, but buyers should expect some version of the following:

• Disclosure packets up front. Sellers commonly make a package available before offers are due — statutory disclosures, and often a property inspection and a pest (wood-destroying organism) report ordered by the seller.
• An offer date. Many listings set a date to review offers rather than responding as they arrive. Some accept pre-emptive offers before that date; the listing agent will say.
• Fewer contingencies. In competitive situations, buyers often shorten or remove inspection, appraisal, and loan contingencies. That shifts risk to the buyer, which is why the reading of the disclosure packet matters so much.
• Transfer tax. San Francisco charges a tiered real property transfer tax that rises with price; by local custom it is usually paid by the seller, but it is negotiable. Current rates: SF Treasurer & Tax Collector.

Single-family homes and San Francisco rules

A few city rules affect single-family value more than buyers expect:

• Unpermitted units and rooms. Many houses have ground-floor rooms or in-law units built without permits. San Francisco has a program to legalize some existing units, and removing an unauthorized dwelling unit can itself require city approval. Whether a space can be counted, legalized, or rented changes what the property is worth. SF Planning · Property Information Map.
• Tenants. Single-family homes are generally exempt from rent limits under state law, but San Francisco’s just-cause eviction protections can still apply. Buying an occupied house is a different transaction from buying a vacant one. SF Rent Board.
• Property tax reassessment. A purchase resets the assessed value to the price paid. Budget from the purchase price, not the seller’s tax bill. SF Assessor-Recorder.

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