SF Mansion Glut Grows

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 2/25/9 | Betsy Schiffman

[SmithL]

We're continually amazed by the brave gazillionaires who list their multimillion-dollar homes in this environment -- economic crisis or not -- knowing that their properties won't fetch top dollar. And we're equally fascinated by how few of those houses have sold.

Among the multimillion-dollar San Francisco houses listed over the last week, three are priced above $5 million; six are priced between $2.7 million and $4.7 million; and a couple are prices slightly upwards of $2 million.

The priciest of the bunch is 1188 Lombard Street -- a three-bedroom, Mediterranean-style Russian Hill home owned by Byron Meyer, who, as far as we can tell, has been a trustee of the San Francisco Ballet Association.

While 1188 Lombard appears to be a new listing, some of the other so-called "new listings" are just houses that were re-listed with reduced prices. Case in point: 2601 Lyon Street, a sprawling Cow Hollow home (see below) listed for $6.4 million last week, was previously shopped around for $8.25 million.

[SmithL]

1188 Lombard Street: The most expensive house in San Francisco to hit the market over the last week.

[SmithL]

Comments

Maybe they don't have as many gazzions at it appears....lots of smoke and mirrors being used to move cash around.....no more shells to play the shell game with!

Posted By: sunking | February 25 2009 at 10:44 AM

Sunking a lot of these people are very cash poor.

Posted By: wahwah | February 25 2009 at 10:47 AM

knock it down and build more condos, thats the SF way!

Posted By: buggler | February 25 2009 at 10:50 AM

Oh, those poor San Francisco Lear Jet Liberals!

Posted By: rueben | February 25 2009 at 10:59 AM

The rich are gradually abandoning San Francisco. Since business and capitalism in any forms are being outlawed by the local politicians, this is one of the inevitable consequences. As they leave the other institutions they support(ed) will also decline and fail, including the museums, the SF Symphony, SF Opera, and SF Ballet.

Posted By: fibdiddler | February 25 2009 at 11:02 AM

And yet the Assessor's Office is still taking the position that real estate values had increased by 2% across SF last year, the latest figures from the Case-Schiller Index notwithstanding. Small wonder that Gavin is looking for a new job.

Posted By: joetheattorney | February 25 2009 at 11:02 AM

They shot Princess Diaries at 2601 Lyon.

Posted By: omnipotent1 | February 25 2009 at 11:08 AM

Tax the Rich! If you can afford $8-million for a house you can afford $1-million in city taxes.

Posted By: publius197 | February 25 2009 at 11:09 AM

Maybe ACORN can move some squatters in. Power to the People, Off the Pigs, Eat the Rich.

[Troll_House_Cookies]

Actually, they list these houses in the down market so they can get a low ball offer on the house, they then take that low ball offer and go straight to their property tax office and appeal the tax assessment with proof of the “true” market value in hanbd, in some cases this cuts millions off their property tax.

[wac3rd]

Tax the rich
Tax the rich
Tax the rich

Everybody is poor

[libertarian27]

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1188-Lombard-St-San-Francisco-CA-94109/15064578_zpid/

Wow, property taxes for 2008 on that house is only $4,000 - little bit more than my house in MA [slightly smaller;)]

[ozzymandus]

WTF? Maybe the property tax is based on the 1974 sale price of $225,000. Maybe rich people in SF don’t have to worry about having their houses re-appraised.

[Huskrrrr]

Feinstein nad Hubby dropped 16 million for their SF shack last year.

[Billthedrill]

I got a hunnert buckadingdongs down and a balloon ARM - Obama’s gonna pay my mortgage! I’ll invite you guys over for a barbecue sometime...use the rear entrance, please...

[Zuben Elgenubi]

It sure is festive!

[Mr. Jeeves]

The rich are gradually abandoning San Francisco. Since business and capitalism in any forms are being outlawed by the local politicians, this is one of the inevitable consequences. As they leave the other institutions they support(ed) will also decline and fail, including the museums, the SF Symphony, SF Opera, and SF Ballet.

Good point. Corporate headquarters are long gone - the dot com entrepreneur class is dwindling. If the old money leaves, too, San Francisco's days as a cultural center are numbered. It will become a theme park caricature of itself, complete with more bums than ever. ;)

[jeffc]

I worked a project back in '93 or so with a guy who flew in from San Francisco. My wife and I had recently purchased a nice 3 BR/2BTH/2 car attached garage house on the cul-de-sac with concrete streets and sidewalks and 6-foot wood privacy fence for $82G. He told me that house would cost over $300G where he lives, and they make no more money in comparable jobs in Frisco.
I asked him how they manage it there. He said they all get ARM's. They know they can't afford the house. They all just bank on the fact that it will be worth more in a couple of years. They then sell the house, take the profit and put it on another house and wait for the balloon payment to hit, and then they sell that house and move up!

I told him that can't last forever, and he said that that's the way it is there!