A luxurious penthouse in downtown San Francisco which was listed in May 2023 for 14 million dollars sold in mid-January for five million dollars less, taking a 30 percent price cut from the seller's expected price nearly two years ago.
While the property at the Millennium Tower was taken off the market and the listing no longer appeared on Zillow, San Francisco-based real estate agent Rohin Dhar shared the price history of the apartment on X.
Newsweek contacted Zillow and Redfin for comment by email on Friday morning, outside of standard working hours.
Why It Matters
Downtown San Francisco suffered massively during the pandemic, to the point that the city's global reputation took a battering. The rise of remote work led to an exodus of workers from the expensive City By The Bay which left nearly a quarter of offices downtown empty.
A rise in crime and shoplifting in downtown San Francisco led to several major brands shutting down some of their most iconic shops in the past few years, and a surge in homelessness and drug-overdose deaths on the city's streets scared tourists and locals off.
Last year, San Francisco started showing signs of recovery, with the city's population reporting net gains again, and not just losses and downtown foot traffic improving, as Lu Chen, senior economist at Moody's Analytics, previously told Newsweek.
However, it will take time for downtown San Francisco to get back to its past shine, as many office buildings remain vacant and shuttered storefronts have not yet reopened.
What to Know
The penthouse at 301 Mission Street in San Francisco features two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms and covers 5,009 square feet. It's one of those spectacular properties in the city, "showcasing sunrise to sunset," according to Zillow, with "270-degree views of San Francisco landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay, Yerba Buena/Treasure Island, the Downtown Financial District, and the Transamerica Pyramid."
The condo unit was built in 2009 and has a homeowners association (HOA) fee of $2,452 a month. According to the property's price history, it was sold in mid-December 2016 for 13 million dollars, and was again listed for sale in mid-May 2023 for 14 million dollars—up 7.7 percent from the previous price.
The listing was removed in mid-July 2024, but on January 15 the property was listed again for nine million dollars. One day later, the penthouse was sold.
While the price cut might in part be due to the recent downturn of downtown San Francisco, another issue that has affected the Millennium Tower, where the penthouse is located, might have played a part.
Extensive works have been done on the building in recent years to stop it from sinking due to faults in its foundation. Ground Engineering reported that the 58-storey Millennium Tower was tilting 736mm to the north west as measured from its roof in early June 2023, since it was constructed in 2009. As of July 2023, after work was concluded to stabilize the building, the Millennium Tower was tilting around 717mm.
However, NBC Bay Area reported in February 2024 that the building was still sinking in the center.
How Is San Francisco's Housing Market Faring?
The San Francisco housing market has somewhat stabilized after the rocky years which followed the beginning of the pandemic.
According to Realtor.com's latest data, the median listing home price in San Francisco was $1.1 million in December, down 12 percent from a year earlier. The median home sold for a price of $1.3 million, the same number provided by Redfin data, up 12 percent compared to a year earlier.
On average, homes sold after an average of 43 days on the market, Redfin found—a shorter time than the 50 days reported in December 2023. A total of 45.4 percent of homes sold above list price, while 12.6 percent sold with price drops, up 21 percent year-on-year.
Realtor.com writes that San Francisco remains a seller's market, with more people looking to buy a home in the city than there are homes available.
What People Are Saying
Matt Castillo, a SF Bay Area realtor, wrote on X of the penthouse selling price: "A lot of money to 'sink' into that home."
Robert Sammons, a commercial real estate expert with Cushman Wakefield, told ABC 7 News that it will take time for San Francisco to recover from the impact of the pandemic and remote work: "After the dot com downturn, it took almost 10 years to get back to where we were previously."
What's Next
The latest data from Redfin shows that San Francisco is still struggling with significant price declines. In the four weeks ending on January 19, San Francisco was the metro which saw the biggest year-on-year median sale price drop, at -5.9 percent. It was followed by Austin, TX, with -3.1 percent, and Tampa, FL, with -2.8 percent.
Now might be the best time for local buyers to purchase a property in San Francisco.
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