Old World Charm, Modern Living: Nob HIll Condo
Beautiful, renovated Victorian condo!
Garage parking! Top floor!
Walking distance to everything!
Fun neighborhood!
An article in yesterday’s SF Chronicle Business section takes a look at cooling condo sales in several of San Francisco’s high rise condo developments. Several of them have reduced prices–for a short period of time to encourage potential buyers, who have been sitting on the sidelines to write offers and purchase condos.
I have received emails from several of these developments, and it seems as if these temporary discounts are around 10 to 20% Many of these projects have an even larger than anticipated inventory of units to sell. Some Buyers, who entered into purchase contracts while these buildings were still under contstruction have found that they no longer qualify for the loans they once would because and some have lost their jobs. I have heard of several situations where buyers were forced to cancel their contracts.
It seems like Millenium Towers, scheduled to cut prices by 15%, is planning to cut prices for all customers, including those who have already agreed on a purchase price and put a deposit down. Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley is cited in the article as saying this makes good sense. Potential buyers will know that if prices drop further, they will be taken care of. Those already in contract will have the incentive to stay in their contracts and close escrow (rather than forfeiting their deposits).
Other properties, like Symphony Towers, One Rincon and Cubix are having big sales. And other developers are choosing to rent their condos and wait until the market strengthens before selling their condos.
Although mortgage rates rose slightly this week, I still think it is a great time to buy. Rathes are still relatively low, prices are lower and the city of San Francisco is still a desirable place to live. Condo prices for all condos in SF Districts 1-9 (which includes South Beach and SOMA and other neighborhoods where these developments are located) indicates that the median price of all condos is down 7.8% in the last year. Although a loss, these numbers are better than the rest of the Bay Area, where according to Rosen, prices for all homes and condos throughout the region have fallen 43.8%.
Here is the shameless plug: If you want to visit some of these fabulous buildings, please be sure to call me first. I’d be happy to set up a tour.
