Understanding the San Francisco Housing Market in July 2026

If you’re thinking about buying or selling in San Francisco, one distinction matters more than any other right now: whether you’re in the house market or the condo market. They’re behaving like two different cities. I pulled every July closing, 439 sold homes, to show you exactly how different.

In San Francisco, $2 Million Is the Middle of the Market

Here’s a stat that surprises people: nearly half of all July house sales (90 of 193) closed above $2M. In San Francisco, the top of the market IS the volume market. For comparison, across the bay in Oakland, the busiest segment is homes under $750K. The two cities are running in opposite directions.

Houses sold at a $1,900,000 median in just 12 days, the fastest pace in the Bay Area. The condo market tells a different story: the typical condo sold for $1,250,000, and hundreds of units are sitting on the market at a median asking price of $879,000.

Where Houses Sold, by Neighborhood

Neighborhood	Typical House Sale	Time to Sell
Potrero Hill	$3,650,000	14 days
Noe Valley	$2,900,000	12 days
Inner Mission	$2,650,000	30 days
Russian Hill	$2,412,500	10 days
Bernal Heights	$2,325,000	11 days
Glen Park	$2,305,000	14 days
Parkside	$2,150,000	12 days
Outer Richmond	$1,920,000	11 days
Central Sunset	$1,835,000	17 days

The pattern is unmistakable: family neighborhoods (Noe, Glen Park, Bernal) are producing sales above $2.3M in under two weeks. Buyers are paying for turnkey homes near parks and schools, and they’re not hesitating. The west side (Parkside, Outer Richmond, Central Sunset) is the city’s relative value zone for houses, with sales in the $1.8M to $2.2M range at the same rapid pace.

Where Condos Sold, by Neighborhood

Neighborhood	Typical Condo Sale	Time to Sell
Russian Hill	$1,740,000	22 days
Pacific Heights	$1,667,500	12 days
Nob Hill	$1,652,500	41 days
South Beach	$1,400,000	13 days
Inner Mission	$852,500	21 days
Yerba Buena	$762,500	60 days
South of Market	$674,000	54 days
Van Ness/Civic Center	$665,000	24 days

One takeaway from seeing both lists side by side: in San Francisco, the neighborhood is rarely what prices you out; the house is. In the Inner Mission, the typical house sold for $2.65M while the typical condo sold for $852K. If you love a neighborhood and a house there is out of reach, you don’t necessarily have to leave it. Changing property types keeps the same blocks, cafes, and commute at less than half the price, and for plenty of buyers that’s a better trade than moving to a cheaper zip code.

What “Asking Price” Really Means in SF

The house market and the condo market don’t just move at different speeds; they price completely differently:

Segment	Typical Sale vs. Asking	Typical Amount Over	Over / At / Under Asking
Houses	123% of list	$360,000	81% / 9% / 10%
Condos	100.5% of list	$5,000	50% / 20% / 30%

For house hunters, the list price is a starting bid. Eight in ten houses sold over asking, the typical winner paid $360,000 above list, and the most competitive tenth of sales closed 57 percent or more over. When you’re touring SF houses, mentally add at least 20 percent to every list price to know what you’re really looking at, and set your search ceiling well below your true budget.

For condo shoppers, the sticker is roughly honest. Half of condos sold over asking, usually by small margins, while three in ten closed below list. Which side a unit lands on is mostly about the building: sought-after buildings in Pacific Heights and South Beach still spark competition, while high-inventory towers give you room to negotiate down.

For sellers, the lesson runs in both directions. House sellers can price to spark competition because the buyer pool shows up and bids. Condo sellers in most buildings can’t count on that dynamic, so the list price needs to be the number you’d actually accept.

Where the house bidding is fiercest, neighborhood by neighborhood:

Neighborhood	Sold Over Asking	Typical Overage When It Happens
Parkside	5 of 5 sales	53% ($801,000)
Glen Park	6 of 8	47% ($745,000)
Bernal Heights	16 of 16	28% ($505,500)
Outer Richmond	4 of 5	22% ($410,000)
Noe Valley	7 of 9	22% ($601,000)
Inner Mission	2 of 5	26% ($648,500)
Eureka Valley/Dolores Heights	4 of 8	20% ($455,000)
Excelsior	4 of 8	21% ($201,000)
Bayview	4 of 5	7% ($75,500)

The surprise is the west side. Parkside looks like one of the city’s affordable house neighborhoods on paper, and by sale price it is. Getting there is another matter: every one of its five July sales went over asking, with the typical winner paying 53 percent ($801,000) above list. A “$1.4M” Parkside listing is really a $2.1M home wearing a teaser price, which makes the west side’s list prices the most misleading in San Francisco. Bernal ran a perfect 16 for 16 over asking. Bayview is the one house market where over-asking means what it sounds like, with modest cushions around $75K.

The same map for condos:

Neighborhood	Sold Over Asking	Typical Overage When It Happens
Pacific Heights	10 of 14	9% ($114,500)
Mission Dolores	4 of 8	13% ($167,000)
Inner Mission	8 of 14	11% ($78,500)
South Beach	13 of 35	10% ($120,000)
Nob Hill	5 of 12	3% ($40,000)
Russian Hill	4 of 8	3% ($65,012)
Van Ness/Civic Center	2 of 11	6% ($62,500)
South of Market	3 of 13	5% ($64,500)
Yerba Buena	1 of 10	one sale, 1% over

The condo map confirms where the leverage lives. North-side prestige addresses (Pacific Heights, Mission Dolores) still generate real competition, with most sales going over by five figures. The downtown cluster barely ever does: Yerba Buena went over once in ten sales, SoMa three times in thirteen. If you’re negotiating on a downtown condo, the data says you’re the one with options.

If You’re Selling in SF

Selling a house: This is your market. With 12-day medians and half of sales clearing $2M, well-priced houses in family neighborhoods are commanding immediate attention. Pricing to your neighborhood’s most recent sales, not to what a neighbor got in 2022, keeps you in that fast lane.

Selling a condo: Your strategy depends heavily on your building and neighborhood. Pacific Heights and South Beach condos moved in under two weeks, while Yerba Buena and SoMa units took two months. Before you list, you need to know which of those conversations you’re in, because the pricing playbooks are completely different.

If You’re Buying in SF

Look at that spread. A South of Market condo at $674K and a Noe Valley house at $2.9M are both “San Francisco.” If you have flexibility on neighborhood and building type, SoMa, Civic Center, Yerba Buena, and parts of downtown are the deepest discounts in the region right now, with the longest negotiating windows.

The stale condo pool is your leverage. Right now, 189 of the 353 condos on the market have been sitting 45 days or longer. When a seller has been waiting that long, they’re listening. For first-time buyers or anyone who’s assumed San Francisco is out of reach, a $674K median in SoMa is a genuinely different conversation than the city’s reputation suggests.

One caution: HOA dues, building health, and litigation history matter enormously in the condo segment. A “deal” in a troubled building isn’t a deal. This is where good representation earns its keep.

So What Should You Do?

Thinking of selling this fall? July drew a bright line between homes that sell in two weeks and listings that sit for two months. Which side you land on is mostly decided by your opening price and your segment. Let’s look at what’s actually closing in your building or on your block before you pick a number.

Thinking of buying? For houses, come prepared to move inside two weeks with financing lined up. For condos, take your time, target listings past the 45-day mark, and negotiate. The same city is offering both games right now.

Not sure which side of the market you’re on? That’s most people. If you’re weighing a move, a downsize, or just want to know what your home would sell for in this market, reach out. I’ll pull the sales that actually match your home and your neighborhood, no obligation.

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Related reading: What California’s Chief Housing Economist Said About the Bay Area · The Oakland Real Estate Market in 2026: What $1M Buyers Need to Know