Designed by Adele Naude Santos, blending raw concrete walls with modern finishes, walls of windows, tiered ceiling heights and a “massive, sun-filled west facing deck” extending its living area, the 2,100-square-foot, two-bedroom loft at 236 Ritch Street traded for $1.895 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.

This past May, the unit returned to the market priced at $2.45 million, a sale at which would have represented total appreciation of 29.3 percent for the “Sophisticated Live/Work Loft” with a deeded parking space since the end of 2014, or roughly 7.4 percent per year, on an apples-to-apples basis.

And having been reduced to $2.25 million in September, and then reduced to $1.95 million in October, the sale of 236 Ritch Street has now closed escrow with a contact price of $1.85 million, down 2.4 percent on an apples-to-apples basis versus the fourth quarter of 2014.

19 thoughts on “Designer Central SoMa Loft Nearly Fetches its 2014 Price”
  1. wow. i would love it if sfh got to their 2014 price. is there a general estimate for how long it takes sfh prices follow condo prices? As condo prices are generally a harbinger for sfhs

    1. That statement may have been true in the early teens, when condo construction was quite limited. The fact of the matter is that condo inventory is increasing with new construction, while SFH inventory (in total) remains constrained with little to no construction within the city proper. I wouldn’t lean on condo pricing as a strong indicator of SFH.

      1. I’d love to read an article with actual studies data about new v old condo decoupling. Has there been such a thing?

  2. Beautiful property with low HOA and included parking. $866/psft is still a very high price, representing [a] new area comp.

    Seller only lost $200,000.00 on the transaction.

    1. Dude, Where’s My Inventory (2014 Edition)?

      Looks like this investor bought eight properties in 2014. From what I can tell, the investor still owns five properties (3 in the Millennium Tower and two in the Mint Plaza). Don’t worry, no banks will be harmed in any of these transactions — yikes!

  3. I must admit I’ve never understood the advantage of “walls of windows” when all they do is grant an uninterrupted view to your neighbors across the courtyard to every single thing you do. I guess I must just be old-fashioned.

    1. It’s always a funny argument to me since I’m on the opposite side of the argument. I like lots of floor to ceiling windows since I like the view from my home. To anyone who worries about neighbors, I like to follow through… so your neighbors see you watching TV. What are they gonna do? Take a photo? Post it on nextdoor? And then what? People will thumb down my dinner choice? I find my life has less stress when I don’t worry about that.

      Then there are friends who are super paranoid and always have the shades drawn. I feel like they might as well live in a box. 🙂

      1. Oh, I’m a sucker for views too. But in this case it’s a first floor loft with high floor to celling windows where it appears the neighbors look in on everything outside of the bathroom. And although the windows certainly let in a fair amount of light, the only view they appear to afford is of the courtyard and the next-door neighbors.

    1. First and foremost, we have to have picked the apple prior to knowing its outcome (which was the case for the unit on Ritch). Secondly, we need a relatively clean permit history (the unit on 19th appears to have gone into contract before the building was finished being remodeled, or at least finaled). And finally, we need a clean sale history (which is a little convoluted for the unit on 19th due to the way it’s recorded as a TIC).

      1. so you have a list of Apples that you’ve selected to keep an eye on. You don’t have a previous post about [236] Ritch, so it’s not houses that have had a previous thread

        1. That’s correct. We’re constantly looking for clean apples to add to our cart, some of which we’ll feature prior to their sale, others we will not.

          If you ever have any suggestions of properties to add, please feel free to pass them along, preferably on the day they hit the market (or at the very least, the MLS). But if they’re not clean, they will be kicked to the curb.

          1. Here’s one that goes along with my Bernal theory, 214 Prospect, a condo. Looks to be a 2016 to 2019 apple. Traded for 1.6 in March of 16, just sold a few days ago for 1.75.

          2. Was there ever a follow-up on 525 28th St? Looks like it went for $4.2 in February and $4.6 back in 2017

      2. What is the “state of the TIC” these days? Looks like the original developer/construction loan was with Sterling. From what I can tell two TIC units were sold off with Sterling financing in early 2016. Then in late 2016 there appears to be Bank of Marin financing for another unit, but then two later sales in 2016/early 2017 have financing by the National Cooperative Bank NA. Are you able to “mix and match” financing from several banks these days for fractional TIC loans? That seems crazy.

  4. Fish Bowl comes to mind. But hey it’s my zip code so that thingy about rising boats might just apply if I were in the market to sell.

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