(Glen Park News note: Be sure to play Sales Price Roulette by Feb. 18! Details below.)
Happy February! After the wild ride that was 2021, 2022 has started out a bit more quietly, with only three total home sales in the month of January (See the table below). This new year slowdown is par for the course, though, for January sales in recent years; there were four in 2021, just one in 2020, and three in 2019. This is representative of properties that went into contract over the holidays, and it’s no surprise that lots of things slow down around the end of the year.
The new year brings some good tidings on the real estate front, particularly in terms of fairness in the area of appraisals. The recently passed California Assembly Bill AB 948 creates the Fair Appraisal Act. The provisions of the Fair Appraisal Act state that every sales contract for real property made after July 1, 2022, must include a notice stating that the appraisal of the property must be unbiased, objective, and not influenced by specific factors, including race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, source of income, ancestry, disability, genetic information, or age. The notice will also include information on actions a buyer or seller can take if they believe an appraisal has been affected. It’s great that our legislature is taking steps towards ensuring that all buyers and sellers are treated fairly. Here’s a shocking example of the issues that brought this bill about: Marin appraiser sued for alleged race discrimination.
Let’s turn back briefly to our January sales to note that while the number of sales was down, one upward trend that continued from 2021 was that all of the sales came in at a figure significantly higher than the list price (as reflected in SP/LP). Granted, three sales don’t provide much data to prove the continuity of a larger trend, so let’s keep an eye out for February’s figures to see if those SP/LP ratios continue to come in well above 100%. And speaking of those future sales…let’s play Sale Price Roulette!
Sale Price Roulette:
This is a fun game I have played with Glen Park folks in past years at the Glen Park Festival. The table below shows currently pending sales. It looks like the first table, except that it’s missing the sale price—that’s because the sale price will not be public until the sale is finalized. And that’s where you come in, you real estate-savvy, prognosticating genius!
Here’s how to play Sale Price Roulette:
- For each pending sale in the table, take your best guess as to what the final sale price will be.
- Email your figures to me at Amanda@RealEstateSF.com by Friday, February 18th
- The contestant whose prices average closer to the final sale prices will win a $25 gift certificate to Canyon Market
I will announce the winner (and reveal the figures) in next month’s column.
If you’re on the lookout for home to buy in Glen Park, here are the available properties:
Amanda Martin
BarbCo Real Estate Group
415.601.9111 (Text/Call)
Amanda@RealEstateSF.com
License #01386284
AmandaMartinSF.com
My Real Estate Stats Webpage
Glen Park Real Estate Time Machine
What makes Glen Park such a desirable place to live? Is it the location? The shops and restaurants? The eclectic and quirky mix of architecture? Is it that classic San Francisco, small-town vibe? Or is it the zoo and the Moorish-style castle?
Wait, what?
These days, the desirable features of Glen Park speak for themselves—and it shows in the sale prices, and how quickly many homes are snatched off the market. But it wasn’t always so—and in fact, at one time a real estate developer went to rather extraordinary lengths to try to lure potential home buyers to the area.
In the late 1890’s, developer Archibald S. Baldwin of the Baldwin & Howell real estate agency was desperate to attract home buyers to the part of San Francisco then known as Glen Park Terrace. At that time, that area was considered the boonies, and not desirable to people who wanted to live closer to the more established parts of the city. So, Baldwin decided to build a cluster of attractions that would capture the imagination of San Franciscans, and eventually (hopefully) capture their real estate dollars. In 1898 Baldwin completed construction of a 145-acre theme park he called the Mission Park and Zoological Gardens, located close to what is now called Glen Canyon Park. Baldwin’s project featured zoo animals and an aviary, an amphitheater, and playgrounds, as well as the aforementioned Moorish-style castle, called Morro castle. The park complex played frequent host to sporting events, hot air balloons and high-flying trapeze acts. Though the attraction was successful in luring in weekend visitors, they simply did not put down their money and purchase the adjacent lots in any significant number, and in 1901 Baldwin gave up on his project and sold the grounds. It wasn’t until after the earthquake of 1906 that San Franciscans began to move to the area—but that’s a story for another trip in the Time Machine!
Take care of yourselves and we’ll talk again in March!
Time Machine Source: Graff, Amy. “This San Francisco neighborhood had an actual castle: Glen Park then and now,” SFGATE, June 18, 2018