This past year with interest rates shooting up to 8% at one point, and bad publicity for San Francisco about homelessness and crime, the real estate market slowed. This particularly affected the co-op market (often a second home market in SF, which has been particularly sensitive to the bad publicity).
Most people are familiar with condos, which is ownership of a unit in a multi-family property that can include non-exclusive use of some other parts of the property. An owner of a co-op does not own their unit directly, but rather owns shares in a corporation and has a proprietary lease for their unit. A co-op is a terrific option, however prospective buyers should be aware that obtaining loans and transferring ownership is a little more complicated.
The co-op market saw a substantial reduction in prices and sales in 2023. Over the past year (ending 2/16/24), 25 co-ops sold in Nob Hill and Russian Hill (where the majority of co-ops exist in the city) at an average price of $1,700,720, down 26% from an average of $2,290,397 in the prior year. The highest and lowest sales prices in the past year were $3,100,000 for a 1790 square foot two-bedroom co-op, and $440,000 for a 386 square foot studio. The average time on the market for these co-ops was 98 days this past year, longer than the prior year’s 82 days. Volume was down about 16% compared to the prior year with 4 fewer co-ops having sold this past year. These numbers do not include any off-market sales that may have occurred.
My client’s co-op at 1750 Taylor, Unit 1202, which recently sold for $2,100,000 was a sleek two-bedroom, two-bath southwest corner unit with a southern terrace. It had world-class views and was in the Royal Towers which has some of the nicest amenities in the city. It was truly a special unit yet with the downturn of the market affecting condos and co-ops the most, it took longer to sell and sold for less than it would have in earlier markets. Timing is everything!
