As one editor expressed it, “This year has been a dumpster fire that makes us feel foolish for all the other times we whined about what a lousy year it was.”   A definite glimmer of hope has consistently been the real estate market.  Looking at the statistics available for single family homes from September in San Francisco, we can see that it continues to be a positive factor in an otherwise depressing collection of news:

• Average Sales Price:  $1,954,300 (down $115,532 over August 2020)
• Average Listing Price:  $1,862,873
• Average Listing Price Per Sq. Ft.:  $950.92
• Average Selling Price:  $1,954,300
• Selling Price Per Sq. Ft.: $1,007.46

All Properties for sale:

• Inventory:  2013 properties for sale on 10/5/2020 (839 more than 2019)
• Pending:  499
• Sold:  562 (increase of 99 over August 2020)
• Single family homes sold:  228

Overall inventory currently is about 4 months, making it still a Seller’s market.  Once we reach 6 months of inventory, the market will turn to a Buyer market.

Out of the 228 houses sold in September 2020:

• Sold Below asking price:  61
• Sold For asking price:  17
• Sold Above asking price:  150

From this data we can surmise that there is still a demand for homes in San Francisco, despite the working-from-home phenomenon.  The accumulated equity in these homes might prove to be the incentive needed to purchase a second home or a future retirement property.