GLEN PARK REAL ESTATE

Happy April! Spring has sprung all around us and, thanks to our recent unexpected rainstorms, lots of wildflowers are popping up all over.

Speaking of beautiful things popping up–those who know me know that I am a big fan of new murals contributing to the beautification of Glen Park. I am thrilled to see that the painting of the Burnside mural is underway! For more info, take a look here. You can also stroll down there and have a look yourself.

As far as the current real estate situation in Glen Park, I think you’ll get an interesting illustration of where things stand when you look at March 2022 compared with March of 2021.

What do these numbers tell us? For one thing, costs have continued to go up, including cost per square foot—which should not be a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention in recent years. What I find to be a more compelling story is the number of new homes in combination with the number of homes newly listed for sale. In March of 2021, 8 homes were sold, and 14 new listings came to market. In March of 2022, 12 homes were sold and only 5 new listings came to market. These numbers all point to one thing: Inventory is down—way down! Other figures back up this story. If we look at homes listed for sale in San Francisco as a whole, industry metrics suggest that current inventory would be exhausted in 2.4 months (months supply)—which is already very low, considering a “healthy” housing market should have somewhere between 4-6 months of inventory. Looking specifically at Glen Park, there is only a 1.2-month supply of inventory. These figures may go some way to explain why, not only costs are going up in general, but they are going up above and beyond expectations even in this crazy market and despite rising interest rates. Another indicator of the demand in our current market is shown in sales prices over list price. In March of 2021 condos and single-family homes sold at 100% and 102.9% of list price, respectively, while those figures shot up to 112.3% of list price for condos and 129.3% of list price for single family homes in March of 2022. Granted, we are working with a relatively small pool of properties, but these numbers apply throughout San Francisco as well.

What happens next? Hard to say. As we anticipated, interest rates are up. Lots of folks are nervous about inflation and the stock market. Often such conditions will lead people to invest in more tangible investments such as real estate. As to where investors will find available real estate—particularly in Glen Park—we’ll have to wait and see. I have a feeling that this summer there will be a lot of people getting out of town and focusing on travel after being cooped up for so long due to Covid, so we may see the typical San Francisco summer slowdown in the market…time will tell. In the meantime, here is a closer look at the sales figures from March 2022 along with the pending and active listings as of April 11th, 2022:

And now, it’s time for the Glen Park Real Estate Time Machine!

It’s important, in this life, to take a moment to stop and smell the flowers from time to time. It’s interesting to imagine in older times, before all these buildings existed, what spring flowers might have bloomed on these hillsides. In addition to the smell of flowers, there would be odors of cows and cow dung wafting over from the nearby dairy farms. Historical records show that in the 1860’s, before Glen Park was Glen Park, the area was home to at least four dairy farms. That’s a lot of cows in the canyon. If you’re at home in Glen Park, where you’re standing right now… well, let’s just say in 1861 you might have wanted to check your shoes before getting back in the car (or up on the horse, as the case may be). One of these properties, the ranch operated by one Henry Wilson, may have been located near what is today the intersection of Diamond and Chenery. Sometime before the turn of the century, someone—quite possibly Wilson—planted a sizable grove of eucalyptus trees, which, of course, were not native to the area. It is possible Wilson would have planted the trees as a windbreak. At any rate, those trees were what led to the area being known as the “Gum Tree Tract.”

Obviously, the dairy farms did not last. There is evidence that at least one was sold before 1870. In May of 1869, local newspapers announced the formation of the Mission and Thirtieth Street Extension Homestead Association whose objective was the purchase of George Ulshofer’s milk ranch, the land of which was to be divvied up and sold as plots for new homes.

As to the price of those lots?

Each of the three hundred lots, some of 25 x 100 and others of 35 x 120, were offered at $350 each.

Of course, we can’t forget about inflation. Today, that amount would come to a whopping $7,300.

Well…times have changed. Enjoy the weather, and don’t forget to milk the cows!

Glen Park Real Estate Time Machine source: “History of ‘Glen Park Among the Pines’,” http://www.glenparkhistory.org/glen-park-c1z92

For more San Francisco sales data, visit: thegoods-sf.com/AmandaMartin/