EXTREME Housing Prices in San Francisco

San Francisco has over 80 different subdistricts. Each of them is completely different from the next in terms of both nightlife and day-to-day lifestyle, work-life balance, but also how much they cost and the type of person who lives there. This video goes in depth on the most expensive and least expensive neighborhoods in San Francisco based on closed transaction prices for condos and single-family homes in the area. What's up everyone? This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent and real estate developer in San Francisco. I've lived in multiple neighborhoods across the city since I moved here in 2013, giving me in-depth firsthand knowledge of what it's like to both live and work in San Francisco. Every single day I put my courtroom advocacy and contract negotiation skills to work for clients looking to buy, sell, and invest in property in San Francisco. Now, if you want more information about the San Francisco real estate market, or you want information about specific communities or specific properties, my contact information's in the description below. Feel free to reach out to me, call me, email me, text me. I will personally answer every single message that I get, and I'd be more than happy to help you. And if you want more videos just like this, please subscribe to my channel, and don't forget to hit the bell so that you're alerted every single time I post a video. San Francisco is well known for being one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, city in the entire world. And it's true, there are a lot of neighborhoods here with, you know, condos and single-family homes that are listed well into the 8 figures. But the entire city isn't all like that. There are actually a lot more affordable neighborhoods here that you might not know about because the headlines don't always focus on those neighborhoods. And these neighborhoods are great, you know, just like some of the more expensive ones, um, for, you know, both young professionals and for people who are married or, you know, at later stages in life. Now, to be clear, even the most affordable neighborhoods in San Francisco are going to be more more expensive than the average home in the United States. The average home in the United States in 2022 was around $400,000. Um, you're probably not going to find something in that range in San Francisco unless there's something seriously, seriously wrong with the property. But when you consider that you're still living in one of the most beautiful cities in the entire world with some of the best outdoor recreational activities that people, you know, travel from across the world to see maybe once in their lifetime, the price that you pay to live here is actually worth it. You know, you're minutes away from the ocean. You're a short drive from Napa and Sonoma counties. You're very close to, you know, Carmel and Monterey, and you're only an hour away from, you know, Los Angeles, a couple hours away from Portland, an hour away from Las Vegas. So it's a very great location with some of the best, most iconic views in the world and some of the best outdoor activities in the entire world. All right, so coming in at number 1 based on closed transaction prices in 2022 is Presidio Heights. Presidio Heights is a fairly small, very affluent neighborhood on the northern end of San Francisco. It borders the Presidio National Forest to the north and goes all the way down to California Street to the south and runs from Presidio Avenue on the east to Argüello Boulevard on the west. There are a lot of famous people and very wealthy people who live here, like, you know, famous actor Julia Roberts, the Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob lives here. And one of my favorite things about the neighborhood is that most of the homes are either architecturally significant or historic or both. And because of where these homes are located, elevated in the city and on top of, you know, one of the larger hills in the city, you actually get some of the best views of the Pacific Ocean, of the city itself, of the Golden Gate Bridge, and of the San Francisco Bay. Now the neighborhood is elevated, but the neighborhood itself is mostly flat. There are some hills going in the north-south direction, but they're fairly mild hills. They're nothing like the larger hills in the rest of San Francisco. So the neighborhood is very walkable. It's great for families. There are a ton of families with kids there.. It's awesome for walking your dog. Pretty much anywhere you live is going to be walking distance to the main shopping street in Presidio Heights, which is Sacramento Street, which has a bunch of restaurants, including Michelin-starred restaurants, and a lot of high-end, you know, home design, interior design stores. And there are some boutique clothing stores as well. You're also walking distance from— I guess it's not technically Presidio Heights, but Laurel Village, which is a small, you know, strip mall on the other side of California Street that has some fast food restaurants, design stores, a liquor store. There's Starbucks, multiple banks, and UCSF is across the street as well. Now the median price for a single family home in the Presidio Heights neighborhood was $6.7 million, and the median condo in the neighborhood was $2.5 million. The second most expensive neighborhood in San Francisco has previously been named the most expensive neighborhood in the United States, and I'm talking about Pacific Heights. It's Presidio Heights's neighbor to the east. It runs from Presidio Avenue to Van Ness Avenue in in the west to east direction and from Green Street to California Street in the north to south direction. Pacific Heights is home to what's known as the Gold Coast or Billionaires Row, which is on Broadway Street. This stretch of Broadway Street has some of the most incredible homes that you will ever see. They are massive and they all perfectly situated to have, you know, the best views of the ocean and the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge and the rest of the city. I would say that Pacific Heights is a bit more lively than Presidio Heights. Pacific Heights is still a very, very walkable, very great neighborhood for families, perfect for dogs. There are a couple different parks in Pacific Heights which you can walk to from Presidio Heights. There aren't really any parks in Presidio Heights, but there are two parks in Pacific Heights: Alta Plaza Park and Lafayette Park. Both of them are, you know, terraced parks that give, you know, pretty great views of the city and of the San Francisco Bay. And they're both surrounded by some of the nicest houses in the city. Pacific Heights also has Fillmore Street, which is one of the busier parts of that end of San Francisco. It's got a ton of bars, a ton of restaurants. It runs north to south and goes all the way from the Marina District by the water through Pacific Heights, through Japantown, and the rest of the city. But some of the best bars and restaurants and shopping on Fillmore Street are in the stretch that goes through the Pacific Heights neighborhood. The median cost of a single-family home in Pacific Heights in 2022 was $5.9 million, and the median price for a condo in Pacific Heights in 2022 was $1.5 million. The third most expensive neighborhood in San Francisco is actually two neighborhoods that most people, you know, mention in the same breath and consider them more or less one. It's Cow Hollow and the Marina districts in San Francisco. Cow Hollow borders Pacific Heights to the south and goes from Green Street down to Lombard Street, and then the Marina goes from Lombard Street basically to the water. And then they go from Van Ness Boulevard on the east side to the Golden Gate Bridge into the Presidio National Forest on the west side. These neighborhoods are the closest neighborhoods to the Golden Gate Bridge and to Lombard Street, which is a continuation of Highway 1. So they are very, very busy neighborhoods in terms of commuters and visitors on the weekend. These two neighborhoods, they do have a lot of residential offshoots that are very, very quiet. But the main hubs of these neighborhoods, Chestnut Street for the Marina and Union Street for Cow Hollow, are some of the busiest most trafficked areas, especially on weekends because of the shops and restaurants and bars that are on these streets. The Marina also has multiple open green spaces. Marina Green and Crissy Field are these massive open picnic spaces that are above the water. You also got Fort Mason, which is a very popular food truck destination. There are a lot of art shows. The farmer's market is there on the weekends. There are coffee shops and restaurants there. So the entire Marina and Cow Hollow areas, while they are very residential,, they do get very busy. The median price for a single-family home in the Marina and Cow Hollow areas last year was $3.9 million, and for condos it was $1.6 million. The 4th most expensive neighborhood in San Francisco by 2022 transaction prices is the Russian Hill neighborhood, which is home to the, uh, most crooked street in the world, most famous, uh, street probably in San Francisco, Lombard Street. The neighborhood is very close to some of the main thoroughfares, um, in the city, Bay Street, which runs, you know, from the Embarcadero and Financial District all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Lombard Street obviously runs through it, but there's a part of Lombard Street that is effectively a continuation of Highway 1 that spits out onto the Golden Gate Bridge. Um, and then Russian Hill is very close to the Financial District, so a lot of people who work in downtown San Francisco live in the Russian Hill area. There's also a ton of bars and shops and restaurants, mainly along Hyde Street in Russian Hill, given all that there is to do there, how close it is to the financial district, and how easy it is to get from there onto the Golden Gate Bridge. A lot of people live there. It's a very, very dense, densely populated area, and that sometimes makes it pretty difficult to find parking. That said, the homes there are atop one of San Francisco's original Seven Hills, Russian Hill, which is one of the biggest hills in San Francisco. And that means that the homes there have some of the best views in the city, some of the best views of the city itself that you don't get in Presidio Heights and Pacific Heights, but also views to the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, and the Pacific Ocean. There are also multiple parks throughout the neighborhood. They're on the smaller side because Russian Hill is very much so on top of a hill. There's Alice Marble Park, which has multiple tennis courts and basketball courts. It's pretty high up there at the very tip-top of Russian Hill by Lombard Street and Hyde, so it does get kind of windy up there, making tennis and basketball a little difficult, but it's still a great park with some of the best views any park has in the city. There's also Ina Coolbrith Park, which is a tiny little picnic area, kind of switched in between, uh, a couple of different homes, but it has great views of the bay and downtown San Francisco. The median price of a single-family home in Russian Hill in 2022 was about $3.6 million, and for condos it was about $1.4 million. The 5th most expensive neighborhood in San Francisco is Seacliff, and yes, if the name didn't give it away, it is a neighborhood built entirely on a cliffside that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. I will tell you, there are not many locations in the world that rival the beauty of the Seacliff neighborhood. Not only do you get some of the most extravagant mansions in the city, you know, owned by the likes of, you know, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, lead guitarist of Metallica Kirk Hammett. But you also get some of the most iconic views in the entire city, if not the world. Unlike most of the rest of San Francisco, there are actually a lot of Spanish-style homes in Seacliff, but it does have its fair share of, you know, modern and contemporary single-family homes. There aren't really many apartments or condos in the area. It's mainly families and single-family residences. Seacliff is actually pretty unique because there aren't really any shops or restaurants or bars in the neighborhood itself. It's pretty much just houses. It's very, very family-friendly, very quiet. People don't go there unless they're going to, you know, see the sights or if they live there. But if you live in Seacliff, there are still a lot of things to do and all very walkable distance. Seacliff borders Lincoln Park, which, you know, there's a golf course there. The Legion of Honor, which is an art museum, is there. Some of the best hiking trails and views of, you know, the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge are from Lincoln Park. So a lot of people who live in Seacliff do a lot of recreational activity in Lincoln Park. Now, while there are no bars or restaurants or shops in Seacliff, there are some that are walking distance from Seacliff on California and Clement Streets. So it's not like if you live in Seacliff you're totally secluded from, you know, the rest of the city or anything like that. There are still going to be a lot of things that you can do, and all of it's going to be walking distance from where you live, which is great. The median single-family home in the Seacliff neighborhood in 2022 was about $3.5 million, and the median condo in Seacliff was about $1.2 $1.3 million. Now on to the least expensive or most affordable neighborhoods in San Francisco, and coming in at the most affordable is the Tenderloin. The Tenderloin is a neighborhood right next to the Civic Center, like where City Hall is, um, and downtown San Francisco. So there is actually a really good mix of bars, shops, restaurants, and it's fairly flat, so everything is very walkable. Um, the problem with the Tenderloin is it does have a fairly large portion of San Francisco's unhoused population, and there is a lot of, you know, drug use in the streets in that area. There really aren't single-family homes in the area. Most of the housing there are, you know, high-rise buildings. There's a lot of new building going in there. There are a lot of modern units. There are also a lot of very old units as well. One of the best things to do in that neighborhood is the Proper Hotel. It's a very, very high-end hotel, you know, smack in the middle of Tenderloin on Market Street. The rooftop bar there and restaurant Charmaine's is one of the best rooftop bars in the city, has great views, and it's really fun. There aren't a lot of open space, you know, parks or recreational areas out there, and I honestly don't recommend being, you know, outside in that area for very long. So I would say it's more of a neighborhood for younger people just moving to the city, not necessarily, you know, people who are married with kids. And I definitely don't think that the area is dog-friendly because I don't recommend, you know, anybody or their dogs really walking around outside. Now, as I mentioned, there aren't really single-family homes there, but there are condos in all the high-rises that are there. And the median price for those condos in 2022 was $520,000. Next on the list is the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco. It is on the southeast side of the city bordering the San Francisco Bay. Candlestick Point State Recreation Area is a part of the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. It's a shorefront park where, you know, you can kayak, you can windsurf. You see people out in the bay launching from there all the time. The main drag in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhoods is Third Avenue. It's where, you know, the areas, you know, bars and restaurants mainly are located. The area is very close to the 101 and 280 freeways, which makes it really good for people who are commuting either to the South Bay or the East Bay. Single-family homes in the neighborhood, median price 2022 is about $1 million, and condos about $700,000. Next on the most affordable list is the Excelsior neighborhood. It's on the south side of San Francisco. So if, uh, if commuting to the South Bay is something that's important to you, uh, definitely consider living in the Excelsior. It's actually a pretty great neighborhood. The area shares a border with John McLaren Park, which actually has, you know, a pool, a golf course. There's a lot of recreational activities to do there for, you know, both residents and people who are visiting there. There's also an amphitheater there and hiking trails, plenty to do. A lot of families live there, a lot of young professionals live there, especially because of how easy it is to commute both into and out of the city. Median price for a single-family home in the Excelsior neighborhood in 2022 was about $1.25 million, and for a condo is about, uh, $765,000. The next most affordable neighborhood in San Francisco is the Civic Center, which I mentioned is right next to San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. It does share a lot of characteristics of the Tenderloin. For example, you know, there aren't really any single-family homes in Civic Center. Most of the housing there are high-rises. There are a lot of modern high-rise buildings that are actually really nice in Civic Center, but like the Tenderloin, you know, it does have a fairly kind of unsafe outdoor vibe, so I don't necessarily recommend it for families with young children or for like walking your dog. But that said, there are a ton of things to do in and around Civic Center. Civic Center is home to city buildings like City Hall and the courthouse, but there's also you know, the ballet and the symphony. SF's theater district is there. There are a bunch of music venues there. There are a lot of bars, shops, and restaurants around all of those things to service, you know, those pretty major attractions in the area. The theater district there is actually really, really great, and I highly recommend people who are, you know, visiting San Francisco or who live in San Francisco go there. A lot of shows that were on Broadway or later go on to Broadway are in, you know, theaters that are in San Francisco's Civic Center. So it's actually a really great place for, you know, the arts and for music. But it does have a lot of things that, you know, aren't that desirable. Like a lot of the city's drug problem is there and unhoused population is there, which makes it less family-friendly, less dog-friendly. So it's not necessarily a place for families with a lot of kids. Like the Tenderloin, there aren't single-family homes there. Most of it is condos. And the median price of a condo there in 2022 was about $800,000. Of the 5 most affordable neighborhoods in San Francisco, the next one is my favorite, and it's the Outer Sunset neighborhood. The Outer Sunset borders Golden Gate Park to the north and Ocean Beach to the west, which actually makes it very, very heavily trafficked and a very, very desirable neighborhood and one of the prettiest neighborhoods in all of San Francisco. And it might be surprising that something with those types of amenities is one of the most affordable neighborhoods in the city, but it's really because it is so far away from kind of the major hubs of San Francisco. I mean, if you're looking at it on a map, it's actually— it's not very far, but in practice, when you have to drive from the Outer Sunset into, for example, SoMa or downtown San Francisco where the Financial District is, it could definitely take you, you know, 30 minutes with all— with all the traffic. Now, while it is far away from those main hubs, the area does have plenty of bars and restaurants and things to do, and they're all sort of interspersed throughout the avenues in the Outer Sunset. One of my favorite spots to go there is a breakfast sandwich spot, Devil's Teeth Baking company. It's got great breakfast sandwiches on these awesome biscuits. So definitely recommend it if you're visiting or if you live in the area. There's also a very strong surf culture there given its proximity to Ocean Beach, which is very heavily trafficked by surfers, and because of its proximity to Highway 1. Median prices of a single-family home in 2022 in the Outer Sunset neighborhood are about $1.65 million. The median price for condos there in 2022 was about $800,000. So there you have it. Those are the top 5 most expensive and least expensive neighborhoods in San Francisco. Remember, there are over different subdistricts, neighborhoods throughout the city, and each of them is very, very different from the next. Even ones that are, you know, literally right next to each other, you know, one block separation, are very different from each other. They all have their different vibes and lifestyles and definitely different price points. If you ever want more information about any of them, or if there's anything that you want to go take a look at, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I'd be more than happy to help you. And remember, if you If you like videos just like this and wanna see more, hit the subscribe button and don't forget to, uh, click the bell so that you're alerted every single time I post a video.