2021 San Francisco Real Estate Market Wrap-up

For so many reasons, we could sum up 2021 as another year-long dumpster fire. But that’s not so for the San Francisco real estate market, which continued to be red hot. Single family homes were the hottest ticket in town, with buyers clamoring to overbid to get in the door. The condo market, which has struggled since the onset of the pandemic, continued to recover in 2021 and is back on the rise, particularly in the $2M+ range which saw the biggest price gains. Lower priced units, under $1.M actually decreased, which could be a combination of buyers requiring more space now that Covid has changed how many of us work and also that there are fewer properties still selling for under $1M in San Francisco. Here are a few stats from 2021.

Median Sales Price:

The median price for a single family home in San Francisco grew 12% compared to 2020, reaching another new high of $1,800,000. Condos saw an almost 3% increase compared to the previous year, rebounding to $1,225,000.

New Listings:

New listings were down across the board in 2021. New single family homes were down 3% year-over-year, new condo listings were down almost 2%. This led to increasing prices due to the imbalance of supply and demand.

Active Listings:

It’s no surprise that active listings, those homes available for sale at the end of a month, were also down. With fewer new listings coming on the market but equal or greater demand, competition in some cases was fierce and did not leave much on the market by month’s end. Active listings for single family homes was down 20%, while condos were down almost 12%.

Sold Listings:

Another yard stick showing how much more quickly properties were selling in 2021 vs the previous year, over 3,000 single family homes sold, up almost 24%. There were almost 4,000 condos that sold in 2021, up over 60% year-over-year.

Percentage of Properties Sold Over List Price:

Almost 79% of single family homes sold for over their list price in 2021, up over 20% compared to the previous year. Single family homes have been the hottest ticket in town, so that’s no surprise. About half of condos sold for more than list price, up 23% year-over-year. While the condo market took a hit in 2020, it has been creeping back up to a seller’s market.

Average Percentage of List Price Received:

On average, single family homes received about 115% of their list price in 2021, up almost 7% year-over-year. Condos averaged 104% of their list price, also up almost 3% compared to 2020.

Average Days on Market:

Single family homes spent an average of 22 days on the market before accepting an offer in 2021, down 8.5% compared to 2020. Condos again spent an average of 41 days on the market last year, the same as in 2020.

Months Supply of Inventory:

As we’ve seen for most of the past several years, inventory remains low particularly in the single family home market where demand has ramped up even more over the past couple of years. MSI for 2021 was 2.3 months, down 40% compared to 2020. The condo market experienced a steep rise in available inventory in 2020 but in 2021 that was reduced 40% to 4.2 months.

The fine print: All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed or warranted. Data comes from the MLS so does not include off-market and most new construction condo sales. The Bay Area real estate market is dynamic so statistics can change on a daily basis. These statistics are meant to be a snapshot of the day and time they were pulled.