San Francisco’s Housing Market Is Hot Again. This Time, Condos Are Joining the Party.

For much of the past several years, San Francisco seemed to have two very different housing markets.

Single-family homes in established neighborhoods remained scarce and expensive, while the condominium market, particularly in larger downtown buildings, struggled with elevated inventory, slower sales and lingering questions about the future of the city’s urban core.

That divide is beginning to narrow.

New figures reported by the San Francisco Business Times show that the city’s single-family home market has moved well beyond its post-pandemic correction. At the same time, demand is spilling into the condominium market, lifting prices, accelerating sales and absorbing available inventory.

The result is not a uniform boom. Downtown buildings still face different conditions than small condominium properties in established neighborhoods. But the broader direction is clear: buyers are returning faster than sellers are putting homes on the market.

The single-family market has moved from recovery to scarcity

San Francisco’s median single-family home price reached approximately $2.13 million in June, about 25 percent above the June 2025 median of $1.7 million. The median price per square foot rose to $1,230, surpassing the previous record set in March 2022.

Homes also sold for an average of roughly 125 percent of their list price. Forty-four transactions closed for at least $1 million more than the final asking price during June alone.

Those figures are striking, but they do not necessarily mean every San Francisco home has appreciated by 25 percent in a single year. Monthly medians can shift depending on the neighborhoods, sizes and types of homes that happen to sell.

Even so, the broader trend is difficult to dismiss. Buyers are competing for a limited number of available houses, and sellers are using deliberately low list prices to generate attention and bidding wars.

The underlying issue is inventory.

At the end of June, San Francisco had only 590 active residential listings, including both single-family homes and condominiums. By comparison, the city had more than 2,000 active listings in July 2020. With 546 properties already under contract, the estimated absorption rate reached approximately 92 percent, leaving the city with only slightly more than one month of available inventory.

That is an exceptionally constrained market. It suggests that the city is absorbing homes almost as quickly as they are being offered for sale.

Sticker shock is sending buyers toward condos

San Francisco’s condominium market is now benefiting from that scarcity.

The median condo price reached $1.3 million in June, an increase of approximately 6 percent from the previous year. Condo sales volume increased by more than 20 percent, and more than half of completed sales closed above the asking price.

Condos are also selling more quickly. The average condominium spent 37 days on the market in June, compared with 60 days a year earlier.

Part of this improvement appears to be a spillover effect from the single-family market. Buyers who expected to purchase a house may be reconsidering once they encounter bidding wars, multimillion-dollar prices and offers substantially above asking.

For many households, a condominium becomes the practical entry point into San Francisco ownership. A buyer may sacrifice a private yard or accept homeowners association dues, but gain access to the city at a price well below that of a comparable single-family home.

That shift expands the condo buyer pool precisely when available inventory is declining.

But there is still more than one condominium market

It would be a mistake to conclude that every condominium is suddenly selling quickly.

Demand appears strongest for units in desirable neighborhoods and smaller buildings, where buyers may perceive a more traditional residential experience. Brokers have cited strong activity in Hayes Valley, Mission Bay and South Beach. In South Beach, median market time reportedly declined from 40 days in May 2025 to 26 days in May 2026.

Larger downtown buildings are improving, but performance remains uneven.

At the high end, the Four Seasons Private Residences at 706 Mission Street recorded about 13 closings during the first half of the year, including approximately ten during the spring. That represents meaningful improvement, but only about 40 of the building’s 146 units have sold.

Other projects show similarly varied results. Developments such as 181 Fremont and 2177 Third Street are largely sold, while projects including One Steuart Lane, Serif and the Row Homes at Yerba Buena Island continue to have substantial remaining inventory.

In other words, the condo recovery is real, but highly specific to location, building type, pricing and monthly ownership costs.

A well-priced unit in a smaller building in a popular neighborhood may receive multiple offers. A luxury unit in a large tower with high homeowners association dues may still require patience and aggressive pricing.

Limited construction could intensify the squeeze

The shortage is not simply a matter of homeowners waiting to sell.

San Francisco also has relatively few new for-sale housing projects entering the market. Even if demand continues to strengthen, there is not a large pipeline of new condominiums ready to replenish inventory. Market participants interviewed by the Business Times expect the gap between available supply and buyer demand to continue, particularly if homeowners remain reluctant to give up low mortgage rates or leave the city.

This is an important distinction. A healthy housing market needs more than rising prices and fast sales. It also needs enough choices to allow households to move as their incomes, families and housing needs change.

When existing owners stay in place and new construction remains limited, even moderate increases in demand can produce dramatic price escalation.

A comeback, but not necessarily a healthier market

The current figures provide another sign that San Francisco’s economic and residential appeal remains strong. Buyers are willing to make substantial commitments to live in the city, and the condominium market is finally participating more fully in the recovery.

That is good news for existing owners who purchased during the slower years and for developers still selling units in completed projects.

For buyers, however, the improvement comes with a cost. The period of broad discounts and abundant condo choices may be fading. Opportunities still exist, particularly in buildings or neighborhoods where supply remains elevated, but buyers may need to act more quickly and distinguish between properties that are merely less expensive and those that offer genuine long-term value.

The larger lesson is that San Francisco’s housing market did not fundamentally become inexpensive during the pandemic. It became temporarily less competitive in certain segments.

Now that demand is returning, the city’s longstanding shortage of homes is reasserting itself. Single-family houses are once again producing extraordinary bidding wars. Condominiums are selling faster. And without a meaningful increase in housing supply, today’s rebound could quickly become tomorrow’s affordability problem.