December 2009 San Francisco Housing Sales Data is Here!
Yet again, Luba’s San Francisco Real Estate Blog brings you latest San Francisco Real Estate market report here. (You can also view previous market updates by selecting the archives on the upper right portion of the screen). Heres’s a little glimpse of the report:
Median Price for Homes Up Year-over-Year
The median price of single-family, re-sale homes in San Francisco saw prices up, year-over-year, for the third month in a row. The median price was up 6.6% compared to last December.
Sales of single-family, re-sale homes rose 2.7% last month compared to November, and were up 46.6% year-over-year. That’s the sixth month in a row year-over-year sales have been higher than the year before. For the year, home sales were up 4.3%. See the Annual Report for full details on 2009.
We expect sales to be strong through the Spring selling season because of the extension, and expansion, of the first-time home buyers tax credit of $8,000 for buying a principal residence. First-time buyer is a buyer who has not owned a principal residence in the three-year period prior to the purchase. There are some income limits. For full information, see: http://federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
In addition, the tax credit was expanded to include move-up buyers. The tax credit for move-up buyers is $6,500. A move-up buyer is a person who has owned and resided in the same home for at least five consecutive years of the eight years prior to the purchase date. Again, for full info, see the web site cited above.
P.S. The tax credit expires April 30th. You need to have a signed contract by then and close the sale within 60 days to qualify for the credit.
Condo/loft sales were up 5.8% month-over-month, and up 64.2% compared to December 2008. This is the fifth month in a row condo/loft sales have been up year-over-year. For the year, condo/loft sales were down 6.4%.
The median price for lofts/condos in San Francisco gained 5.2% from November, but was up 7.6% year-over-year. This is the first the median price has been higher than the year before since last August 2008.