The San Francisco condo market, once considered an ideal starter home option, is facing challenges. Rising costs and unexpected repairs are impacting residents and potential buyers.
A Petrini Place resident's experience highlights the financial burden. A $44,000 balcony reconstruction, covered by HOA reserves, exemplifies the unexpected expenses impacting condo owners.
While condo values increased throughout the 2010s, the pandemic negatively affected the market, leaving condos as one of the hardest-hit segments.
The current market conditions suggest that condos are no longer the easy starter homes they once were in San Francisco.
“More and more people are questioning if they can sell their property today,” said Polifko, who serves as the HOA board president. One resident of Petrini Place, who purchased a unit for $675,000 in 2023, discovered this year that the balcony needed to be reconstructed after dark water staining appeared in January. The HOA had to pick up the $44,000 tab using its reserves.
“The condo market was already tough, and it’s not getting any easier,” Polifko said.
Throughout the 2010s, condo values climbed, even as San Francisco added thousands of units to its housing stock. Then came the pandemic, which upturned the real estate markets and left the condo category as one of the losers.
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