Price Per Square Foot: South San Francisco vs. Millbrae
Ask most anyone familiar with Bay Area real estate which city has more expensive homes, South San Francisco or Millbrae, and the response is likely to be unanimous. South City doesn’t exacly have the reputation for high-end real estate.
But taking a look at the graph below, during the boom, South City tracked Millbrae pretty closely, as measured by price per square foot. In fact, in 2004 then again in 2005, South City even hit the same level as its neighbor to the south.
Since the market started tumbling in 2007, the gap between the two has widened. This partly reflects the fact that South San Francisco has had a higher foreclosure rate than Millbrae, so homes in poor condition are selling at a higher clip, dragging down price per square foot. In South City we’re now back to levels not seen since 2002, but in Millbrae we’ve only reached 2004 prices.
With the new appraisal guidelines restricting buyers ability to get loans, the next few months should be very telling with respect to how the already battered housing market can continue the healing process.