Medians in the 'hoods: The Mission

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We've covered the median home prices now in Pacific Heights and in Cole Valley. Both 'hoods show that prices are high, sellers get over asking, and the market is doing better than last year at this time. Now we turn our attention to San Francisco's Mission neighborhood to see what kind of market we find there.

Again, like the city itself, the Mission is by no means a monolithic entity. Outer Mission is different from Inner Mission. The Potrero edge is different from that which abuts Noe Valley. However, one fairly consistent aspect of the Mission area is the weather: you will often find sun here when the rest of the city is swirled in fog. Even foggy Mission days are often brighter; less wind, more warmth.

The Mission is also a cultural and ethnic kaleidoscope, with a burgeoning arts, food, and nightlife scene. For all that, it's drastically less expensive than the two neighborhoods already covered by this blog series, with a median list price of $590K in April of this year, and a median sold of $550K, down 3.8% from last year at this time. These medians reflect both single-family homes and condos.

For the median list price, here is a typical Mission property:

Robin Hubinsky, Zephyr Real Estate

199 Tiffany Ave., #303 is a 2 bed, 2 bath condo in a newish building in the Inner Mission, offering one-car parking, all for $589K. You might be able to get it for less, since the unit has been on the market over 200 days; it sold for $639K a few years ago. (Ouch!)

The most expensive listings in this 'hood, those going for well over a million, are often multi-unit, even mixed-use, offering residential rental income along with retail or restaurant space. Here is one at 3150 24th St, with an established eatery as well as apartments. Thus, we see another disparity: In Pac Heights/Cole Valley, most homes are over a million, but in the Mission, you would be buying an entire building for the same amount. (One could argue that there's a lot more headache and work for the buyer in those extra square feet, or a lot more money back in terms of rental income, depending on the perspective.)

The cheapest listing in the area now is actually not a home at all: it's just a garage for $289K, and you can build a house on top of it. As far as an actual, constructed residence, the least pricey is this Valencia Corridor tenancy in common at 289 Lexington St.

Helen Kwong, Zephyr Real Estate

This is a 1 bed, 1 bath for $349K with the ubiquitous granite-countered kitchen and no parking.

Ultimately then, we aren't actually looking at bargain-basement prices in the Mission. But it could be a place where the well-qualified first-time buyer could get a foot in the door or a brave investor could become a multi-unit landlord.

Posted By: Anna Marie Hibble (Email) | June 04 2010 at 12:00 PM

Listed Under: San Francisco