Record Fast Time For Sales of Homes in San Francisco

Fast times are here in San Francisco – if you’re selling your house. In fact, across the entire Bay Area the sale of a home is so fast from listing to closing that our SF Bay Area holds the fastest list-to-sale times nationally. You can practically use a stop watch to time these sales.

Actually, in San Francisco, as of April, the median time for closings is 36 days, while nationally the median time is 64 days. This fast pace has been going down every year since 2010, with the time period for SF sales being reduced by 43 percent since 2010.

Miriam Westberg, a Redfin agent in San Francisco, says, “The last three deals I did all have been 14 days or less in terms of closing. One single-family home closed in seven days from the time the offer was accepted. It was a cash offer. Cash is king in terms of speed.”

One of the factors in the quick turnarounds is the low house inventory, which drives competition, higher prices and the rush to close. Another factor says housing economist Felipe Chacon is that the process of housing shopping itself is changing, with more people shopping initially online.