No rest for the weary. Also, Vanguard welcomes Herth Realty to the family!

First and foremost: Vanguard Properties continues expanding by bringing in Herth Real Estate to join the Vanguard family. For more than 45 years, this venerable and local firm (just like Vanguard is a local firm) has been leading the way in the Castro. Herth was one of the first sponsors of the AIDS quilt and AIDS Walk and will continue its legacy of serving and supporting the community in Vanguard’s fold. Woot! It’s exciting.

Hurrying to Scurry

It’s that time of year where people tend to scurry about like mice in a hurry. Is it, perhaps, towards some curry? Okay, sorry about the poor attempt to rhyme. But in all seriousness, this is time of year when real estate is active in very particular ways that may go unnoticed.

You may notice porta-potties all around town. These may indicate sellers scurrying to get their listings ready for January. It happens every year (and earlier) when a push of new listings come onto the open market. Some properties are indeed new and others are recycled from 2013, but either way, it may be new to you. Get yourselves ready to get looking if you’ve been coming up short recently.

Also, this time of year sees buyers scurrying around to pick up some holiday bargains and/or scurrying to beat a calendar deadline and make a property purchase before the year is over. And you’ll see agents scurrying around asking each other about what’s coming on the market. This is the time of year where your agent’s network may provide the magic lead that leads to being able to buy that great property that no one else knows about.

Coming Soon from Kevin…

Speaking of which, I have two new early and advance exclusive listings to announce: 1228 Leavenworth Street and 396 Guerrero Street. Each are properties that typify their very ‘San Francisco’ neighborhoods — Nob Hill and Mission Dolores respectively. Read more about these opportunities below.

NEW: November Sales Data

Movember is over and it was one for the record books for SF real estate.

• New Listings were down 13.3 percent for single family homes and down 13.7 percent for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Pending Sales decreased 15.5 percent for single family homes and 0.7 percent for Condo/TIC/Coop properties.
• The Median Sales Price was up 20.4 percent to $975,000 for single family homes and 6.5 percent to $825,500 for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Months Supply of Inventory decreased 20.0 percent for single family units and 30.4 percent for Condo/TIC/Coop units.