San Francisco’s most expensive neighborhoods are also the only ones where homes are selling for more this year than they did during pandemic peaks, a sign of continued strength in the ultra luxury market, according to Compass data.
Single-family homes in District 7, which includes neighborhoods like Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, Cow Hollow and the Marina, sold for a median of $5.75 million between Jan. 1 and June 30 of this year, easily beating the 2021 peak of just under $5.3 million. That new high-water mark follows two years of median sales coming in around $5 million.
Compass Chief Market Analyst Patrick Carlisle cautioned that median sale prices in very expensive neighborhoods can fluctuate due to a few very high-end sales. This year, several $20-million-plus sales are certainly impacting the figures, though the two biggest sales so far this year — Laurene Powell Jobs’ record-breaking buy of a $71-million home on Billionaire’s Row in Pacific Heights and the Battery Club founders sale of their $29.15 million home down the street — came in after the year-to-date figures were collected.
“The luxury and ultra-luxury market has certainly performed more strongly in 2024 than the general market,” Carlisle said via email, adding that has proven true throughout the Bay Area because of the bullish stock market. “But one can’t come to definitive conclusions about fair market appreciation based on a single reading of the median sales price.”
Compass agent Nina Hatvany, who specializes in D7, said that a few big sales in the district are likely pushing up the overall averages more than the rest of the city.
“The high-end market is recovering a bit and this year we have finally had a good amount of sales over $5 million — and there are more of those in Pacific Heights/Presidio Heights/Western Cow Hollow than in other areas, so the averages may look better,” she said via email.