In this 2024 YouTube video, lawyer‑turned‑real‑estate agent Austin Klar explains why San Francisco’s South Beach neighborhood offers the best condo deals in the city right now. He begins by describing how the pandemic devastated the city’s condo market, especially downtown high‑rise buildings, and notes that while most of San Francisco has rebounded, South Beach remains soft‑priced. Klar then outlines South Beach’s geography—flat, waterfront, highly walkable, with weather comparable to Noe Valley—and highlights the lifestyle of modern high‑rise amenity buildings, including 24/7 attended lobbies, concierge services, gyms, rooftop kitchens, and security, while noting the lack of private outdoor space. He emphasizes nearby premium dining (multiple Michelin‑starred restaurants, Ferry Building vendors), waterfront recreation, and proximity to major transit hubs (BART, Caltrain, Bay Bridge) and major venues (Giants Stadium, Chase Center). Klar presents current market data: median condo price just under $1.3 million (~$1,100/ft²), comparable to 2018 levels, with recent sales below 2016‑17 purchase prices, indicating strong buying opportunities. He addresses the common buyer question of whether prices have hit bottom, arguing that continued VC investment, a shift back to hybrid/in‑person work, new office leases (especially AI firms), and extensive new development suggest the market is poised to recover over several years. He concludes with calls to view related videos, subscribe, and contact him for personalized assistance, positioning himself as a knowledgeable resource for newcomers to San Francisco.
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The pandemic wreaked absolute havoc on the San Francisco condo market. Office vacancies and remote work and layoffs had people moving out of the city en masse, and that put a huge damper on the condo market all across the city. And no area was more impacted than downtown San Francisco, and in particular, the South Beach neighborhood. While most of the city has bounced back, the condo market in these high-rise amenity buildings is softer than the rest of the city, and it remains the best place in the city to get a deal. I'm Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent in San Francisco and Marin County, and in this video, I'm going to give you a deep dive on the South Beach neighborhood and why I think it's the best place in city of San Francisco to get a deal right now. So first, let's talk about where South Beach is. It is located on the eastern waterfront of San Francisco, south of Market Street. The area is one of the city's most walkable neighborhoods because it is pretty much entirely flat, and it rivals places like Noe Valley for the best weather of San Francisco, making it great for outdoor activities. It is incredibly rare to have warm weather right next to water, so you get a best of both worlds— the weather that you get in places like Noe Valley with views that you get living right next to the waterfront in San Francisco. And in contrast to places like Noe Valley, where you're likely living at the top of a very steep hill, or you have to walk up and down very steep hills to get to a destination, none of that you have to do in the South Beach neighborhood because, as I said, it is almost entirely flat, making walking anywhere super easy. And if you want to learn more about which neighborhoods are the best for walkability or for commuting or for nightlife and dining, make sure to subscribe to my channel because I make videos all about that and post every single week. I've also got a great video ranking in tiers a bunch of popular and not so popular neighbors in San Francisco so you can see how they stack up against each other. I'll link that at the top in the description below. Definitely go check that out. Now back to South Beach. Now what's it like to live in South Beach? Well, the area is dominated by modern high-rise amenity buildings. Most of the buildings there are either high-rise office buildings or mixed-use like retail slash office slash residential or full-on residential building. And a lot of these buildings are going to be full-service amenities buildings. So you get amenities that you would expect like in a 5-star hotel, things like 24/7 attended lobbies, valet service, or concierge service. gyms, rooftop catering kitchens, private lounges. What particular amenities you're going to get are going to vary building to building. So definitely reach out if you have any questions about a specific building. Now, all those amenities are awesome, but one of the things that you don't get living in a lot of these buildings is private outdoor space. You might have a private terrace or balcony, but most likely you're going to have common area terraces, a common area rooftop. If you live in a penthouse unit, you might have a private rooftop, but you're not going to get yard space that you would in other parts of San Francisco. Okay. But luckily you live next to so many great outdoor amenities like the waterfront and the Embarcadero that you don't necessarily need outdoor space in your immediate backyard. On the flip side, one of the pluses of living in these buildings as opposed to, you know, big mansions or nice houses in places like Seacliff or Presidio Heights or Pacific Heights or other neighborhoods of San Francisco where you're more likely to live in a single-family home is that these places tend to have more security. Think about, you know, you spending $20 million on a house, let's say, in Presidio Heights, Somebody in theory can just walk up to your front door, knock on your front door. That's not the case in these buildings because of the 24/7 attended lobbies with security and doormen. A lot of my clients looking to move to San Francisco right now have general concerns about the safety of the area, and we talk about why those concerns, especially in this area, aren't necessarily correctly placed. That said, one of the benefits of living in these buildings is security. You don't need to have your packages, you know, sitting outside your front door. They'll be in a secure room with an attendant lobby or security man guarding them. So living in these high-rises offers a lot of the security that other neighborhoods in San Francisco don't offer. Another perk of living in South Beach is that you are steps from some of the best restaurants, not just in San Francisco, but in the entire world. South Beach is home to multiple Michelin-starred restaurants, including 3-star Benu, 2-star Saison, 1-star Angler. You've also got great casual food in the area as well, places that cater more to the office lunch crowd, you know, quicker, fast casual spots that make great salads or sandwiches. And there are a ton of great waterfront dining options nearby all along the Embarcadero. Plus you have all the vendors at the iconic Ferry Building, which is just a short walk away no matter where you live in South Beach. The area is also great for commuting, whether you work in downtown San Francisco or you need to commute out of the city, for example, to the South Bay or the East Bay. It's really easy to get onto the Bay Bridge if you need to go to the East Bay. It's walking distance pretty much wherever you're going to be to BART or to Caltrain if you need to get to the South Bay or to the East Bay if you're going to take BART. Or if you're going to drive, you can hop on the highway in a matter of minutes and get anywhere you want to go. It's really easy to get to other parts of San Francisco and out of the city as well. So not only is it a great option for somebody who works in the Financial District or in the office buildings of South Beach or in the Mission Bay area, it's great for people that work, for example, in the tech hub of Silicon Valley or other parts outside of the city. So what does South Beach offer from an amenity standpoint? You're not going to get like these big massive parks that you do in other parts of the city like Golden Gate Park or Alta Plaza Park because the area is just so dense. That said, there are still a ton of great outdoor amenities. For example, you have Salesforce Park, which is an elevated park that is straddled between multiple high-rise buildings, which is a beautiful outdoor space. You've also got the entire San Francisco waterfront basically in your backyard, and all of it is flat, so it's great for running, great for walking, great to bring your pets or your kids, you name it. It's also walking distance or a very short drive to Giants Stadium, to Chase Center, and all the things that are being built along the central waterfront. Now, if all that weren't enough, the best part about living in South Beach right now, in my opinion, are the deals on property. Condos in the area ran up in price and reached their peak immediately before the pandemic and have fallen off substantially since then. Right now, the median price of condos in South Beach is just shy of $1.3 million or about $1,100 a foot. And this is in line with where prices were back in 2018, which was about $1.25 million median and about $1,200 a foot. There are also multiple units that have sold recently for several hundred thousand dollars less than what the owners paid for them in 2016 and 2017. So there's no doubt about it. There are a ton of great opportunities to get into property at great prices right now. And one of the questions that I get most often from people looking to move to the city, talking about pricing dynamics and what's going on in this neighborhood is, has the area reached the bottom? People wanna know whether if they're gonna buy a place in this area, is it gonna continue depreciating in value or is it gonna stay the same or eventually appreciate? Of course, no matter what the neighborhood is, nobody can know for sure, but there are several factors that lead me to believe that this area has probably reached the bottom and is on its way back up. First, if you look at where most of the VC money is being invested, the San Francisco area continues to be number one on the charts by geographic region. It will always be the center of tech and innovation, and the amount of money being poured into the financial district and South Beach and South Beach adjacent neighborhoods specifically is evidence that it's likely going to come back. Second, there's a shift going on right now from fully remote work to a hybrid or in-person work environment. There's also a ton of new business coming to the area. For example, AI companies leasing hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space. So people are definitely coming back to work, and that's gonna increase demand for condos in and around the— Yeah. Financial District, Downtown, and South Beach neighborhoods. Finally, there is so much new development coming right now, both in Downtown San Francisco and the South Beach and Central Waterfront neighborhoods. And we're starting to see reversal of the trends that we saw grow during the pandemic with crime and homelessness. So I personally believe that the city is going to return to what it was. Is it gonna happen overnight? Absolutely not. It's going to take several years. But if you're looking to buy property here and put down roots for the long term, South Beach is a great bet. It's an opportune time to get in at really soft pricing before things reverse course. I have several videos about the investments that are being made in downtown and all the new communities that are being built along the central waterfront. I will link those videos up at the top of the description. You should definitely check 'em out if you're thinking about living in the area so you can see all the new things that are coming. If you're thinking about relocating to the city but have some trepidations about the market or trying to figure out where the right neighborhood or maybe the wrong neighborhoods are for you, definitely reach out to me. I moved to San Francisco from Orange County over a decade ago to work as a lawyer without really knowing much about the different areas of San Francisco or the San Francisco lifestyle generally. So I know how scary it can be relocating to a city that maybe you're not that familiar with, I'll put my contact information in the description below. Definitely reach out to me. I'd love to be a resource for you. Appreciate you watching, and I'll see you in the next video.
