Author: Misha Weidman

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West Portal, Quiet, and Happy To Be Unnoticed

Photos and content regarding retail activities in West Portal have been generously provided by LostinSF.com, the only French-American insider’s guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area. The French version of this article can be found here.

Named after the western entrance to a transit tunnel completed a century ago, the quiet neighborhood of West Portal is proud of having been overlooked by much of the frenzied redevelopment going on in many other parts of San Francisco. No big white Google or Apple buses prowl the streets here.  You want bars filled with 20 somethings ordering $12 cocktails and artisan beers?  Head downhill to the warmer climes of the Mission.  Here, in the foggy western shadow of San  ...  Additional Details

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Fewer, Smaller, Costlier: San Francisco Housing Trends

HouseJudging by the number of family rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms being shoe-horned into every Victorian-era attic and basement around town, you’d think that Homo Sapiens San Francisco is living much larger than his/her cousins of a hundred years ago.

It’s true that people a hundred years ago were smaller and had a lot less “things”  than 21st Century Human.  The challenge, for those that can afford it, is to find ways to squeeze extra space out of beautiful but functionally obsolescent homes that the  SF Dept.  of Building Inspection, in its infinite wisdom, is dead set against anyone demolishing.  Ever.  Never mind whether it’s a grand Victorian Dame or a sorry mid-century stucco box with no character and rotten innards. ...  Additional Details

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Three Years into the Recovery: What’s “Up” in San Francisco?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, one and all! What happened in San Francisco real estate in 2014? Three years into SF’s booming recovery, inventory remains at record lows and prices approach or exceed record highs across most of the city. End of story. Goodbye.

In some respects, the story really is that simple. But here at RealDataSF we know our readers want the details. So in this month’s issue, we’ll look at what’s

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And Now for Something Completely Different: Real Data SF’s First Video Blogs on SF’s White Hot Condo Market

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This month we are looking at SF’s white-hot new construction condo market, but rather than doing the usual chart-heavy newsletter post, I thought I’d see whether having yours truly explaining the charts via a video blog might work better.

I’ve tried mightily to keep the videos short – in fact I’ve broken down the presentation into two separate videos of around 4 minutes each. The first one covers what’s being built and where the primary areas of development are located. You can find it here: ...  Additional Details

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Real Data SF: April Newsletter Between a Rock and SF’s Rental Market

April

Being a renter is not a comfortable place to be these days. Unless you’re in a unit that’s subject to rent control, chances are you’re either already paying astronomical rents or dreading the day that your landlord informs you of a major increase.

In a “normal” market – and when is anything about SF “normal” – high rents push lots of people to buy their first homes. But with home prices so high, many are finding that they are stuck between two unappealing options. On the one hand, they can continue to fork over a lot of rent knowing they’ll see nothing for it at the end of the day. Or, if they’re lucky, they can find a modest home to buy in a neighborhood that’s a long way from being their top choice. If they’re unlucky, they’ve already been completely priced out by the run-up in home prices which, despite my January newsletter predictions, has re-ignited ferociously. ...  Additional Details