Are homes near public transit desirable?
A: To some it is crucial and a deal breaker. Many buyers cannot imagine purchasing a home without parking. Leased parking or valet parking do not suffice. For these buyers, it is all or nothing.
There must be a discrete parking space intended solely for them, where they can leave their car, their stroller, their dusty old bikes or all of the above. For others, particularly the Millennial generation, a dedicated parking stall means nothing.
These buyers substitute owning a car with a driving app, such as Uber, a bicycle and/or proximity to public transportation or the Google shuttle. They have done the math, and owning a car is a waste of money.
Unlike previous generations, there is no stigma associated with not owning a car.
Proximity to public transportation is and always has been a relevant factor to the price of real estate. In our last downturn starting in 2008, maps showing the decrease in home value and proximity to transportation were striking and directly inverse. The closer the property to public transportation (such as light rail or a subway system), the less the property declined in value. This mitigation of the overall decline in prices was dramatic. Similarly, as prices began to rise, it was those properties closest to public transportation that showed the greatest and quickest rebound.
Daniel Hershkowitz, Vanguard Properties, (415) 577-9065, mrdantastic@vanguardsf.com. A: Without question, properties are more valuable when they have parking or are close to public transport. A property with one parking space is worth $50,000 to $100,000 more compared with an identical property with zero parking, depending on the neighborhood. There are two important trends. First, people are getting out of their cars. There is a net migration from the suburbs back to the city. City dwellers value neighborhoods where they can walk or take transit to basic services including coffee shops, stores and restaurants.
Some people don’t want to give up their cars completely, so they pay for secure parking where they can. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that car break-ins were up more than 26 percent by the end of November 2017 in San Francisco when compared with the same time period in 2016. After suffering three incidents of theft last year, I am dismayed to be part of this statistic.
The second trend sees the younger generation eschewing car ownership. Besides using public transport, they are embracing ride-sharing services or riding bikes.
Look for these trends to intensify as Bay Area streets and freeways become more congested.
John Solaegui, Paragon Real Estate Group,
(415) 999-0673, jsolaegui@paragon-re.com. A: For a city that supposedly favors mass transit, San Francisco buyer behavior still shows that having parking impacts a property’s value equally for condominiums and single-family houses.
In 2017, condominiums with parking sold for about $350,000 more than those without (an average of $1.3 million versus $900,000), while houses with parking sold for $400,000 more than those without ($1.78 million vs. $1.38 million) per MLS data.
But for folks who are willing to lead a car-less life, proximity to mass transit will impact property values significantly. These buyers are looking for an urban experience that relies on mass transit, Uber or foot power to get to work, entertainment and food — throw in an area close to a farmers’ market and you’re golden.
And while you’d expect younger, entry-level, Millennial buyers to value proximity as an amenity (as we see among our own buyer pool), we also see the same willingness to spend more for proximity from Baby Boomer buyers who sell their empty nests to flock to the city.
Kevin Ho, Vanguard Properties, (415) 297-7462, kevin@kevinandjonathan.com; Jonathan McNarry, Vanguard Properties, (415) 297-7462, jonathan@kevinandjonathan.com.