Communities
South San Francisco
Located between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Country’s most pre-eminent biotechnology hub.
New residents are flocking to South San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods, choosing between pre-war downtown cottages, sweeping post-war mid-century suburbia, large-scale transit hub apartment developments and condominiums and the spacious mini-mansions of Terrabay’s Mandalay Heights, whose multi-level homes sit in a small valley on the southern slope of San Bruno Mountain, offering bay views and the perks of 21st-century design with a twist — Western Pacific Housing developed Mandalay Heights “with feng shui in mind,” incorporating small and large details designed to allow for the flow of chi.
South San Francisco is known as the birthplace of biotechnology since 1976 when Genentech opened its door. With over 200 biotech companies (Amgen, Stemcentrx, 23 and me) and 11.5 million square feet of space, South San Francisco is the world’s leading research and development (R&D) (e.g. vaccines, gene therapies, ect) hub for applications for drugs and therapies, as well as the manufacturing of medical devices.
In recent years, it has become the local hub for other tech leaders such as SAP(Successfactors) as well as the Headquarters for See’s Candies and Sanrio(parent of Hello Kitty. Just a short distance from San Francisco and the Peninsula, South San Francisco is expanding rapidly, as can be seen by the large numbers of cranes and construction sites. New offices and residential buildings are popping up rapidly.
This growth in the business sector is leading to a large demand for services to support the business infrastructure. A trip through downtown’s Grand Avenue reveals that the city’s decades-old family-owned businesses are now sharing space with increasingly stylish restaurants, a downstairs brewery and tap room, hip and trendy restaurants/bowling alleys/ basketball courts/meeting locations such as Foundry & Lux, and a growing number of cafe’s. Pedestrian street life is vibrant, encouraged by city government’s partnerships with urban bicycle and carpooling apps spin.com and Scoop.com. A new Business Costco also opened last fall in South San Francisco to support and supply all these small businesses.
-
64,251
Population
-
12,674
Homes
-
1m - 1.8m
Price Range
-
$1.22M
Median Sale Price
-
$1.23M
Average Sale Price
Pricing data based on single-family homes
Key features
- Fourth-largest city
- Fourth-largest city (population 66,980), is a convenient location between San Francisco and Silicon Valley
- Hiking trails
- South City residents can hike San Bruno Mountain, stroll the 2.8-mile Centennial Trail or a segment of the San Francisco Bay Trail
- Transportation options
- Residents enjoy flexibility and accessibility with an array of transportation options including Bart, Caltrain and Ferry
- Biotech hub
- The country’s most pre-eminent biotechnology hub
- Single family homes
- Entry- and mid-level single-family homes; high-end bay view developments; brand-new downtown condominium communities
- Historic downtown
- Historic and revitalizing downtown core
- Easy commute
- Easy commute to San Francisco (by car, CalTrain or BART) and SFO
On this page
South San Francisco
Stats & Trends
Sales Prices
Raziel's Commentary
One of San Mateo County’s most affordable cities, South San Francisco saw an overall 5% increase in average and median home prices in 2022, finishing the year at $1.38 and $1.362 million, respectively. South San Francisco showed its biggest gains during the first half of the year, but unlike its neighbors the “Industrial City” did not show uniform losses in Q3 and Q4. Average prices were mostly flat, with a variance of no more than 5% in either direction, between June and October before tailing off (down 9% and 15%) in November and December. Median prices followed a similar arc, though variances were up to 7%, even as overall sales fell sharply during the same period.
Sales Prices for single-family homes in South San Francisco
2023 YTD Average
$1.2M
13.1%
2022 Average
$1.38M
5.5%
2023 YTD Median
$1.2M
11.8%
2022 Median
$1.36M
4.6%
2022 HOME SALES BY PRICE RANGE
Raziel's Commentary
South San Francisco saw a small move upward on pricing in 2022, but the gains weren’t earth-shattering except for notable exceptions at the highest end. Homes selling for under $1 million still made up slightly less than 7% of the local market and homes selling for between $1 and $2 million still dominated, with 90% of buyers coming in at this price point, compared to 93.4% in 2021. At the high end, though, South San Francisco entered a new reality, with eight sales — 3% of all sales — coming in between $2.5 and $3 million, compared to a single transaction in 2021, and one sale breaking the $3 million barrier.
| Beds Bedrooms | 1M - 1.5M | 1.5M - 2M | 2M - 2.5M | 2.5M - 3M | Over 3M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2 |
9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
3 |
74 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
|
4 |
23 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
|
5 |
3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
6 |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 109 | 58 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
2022 HOME SALES BY PRICE RANGE for single-family homes in South San Francisco
1M - 1.5M
52%
1.5M - 2M
28%
2M - 2.5M
2%
Sale Price to List Price Ratio
Raziel's Commentary
After rising consistently from 2021’s 108.7% during the first five months of 2022 (and peaking at 115.3% in February and March), South San Francisco’s sale price to list price ratio posted losses for every month that followed, ending the year down only one percent (107.3%) but down 10% in November and December to fall below 100%. Heading into 2023 it looks like South City’s sale price to list price ratio has stabilized so far at 100.2%, 7% lower than the aggregate for 2022 but slightly higher than the sub-100% figures posted during the last months of 2022.
Sale Price to List Price Ratio for single-family homes in South San Francisco
2023 YTD
104.9%
2.9%
2022
108%
2.4%
Number of Home Sales
Number of Home Sales for single-family homes in South San Francisco
2023 YTD
61
67%
2022
185
45.1%
2021 Home Sales by Neighborhood
2021 Home Sales by Neighborhood for single-family homes in South San Francisco
Serra Highlands
23
sales
Parkway
18
sales
Sunshine Gardens
17
sales
Average Days on Market
Average Days on Market for single-family homes in South San Francisco
2023 YTD
18
days
10%
2022
20
days
25%
South San Francisco Neighborhoods
Avalon Park, etc.
Avalon Park is another classic 1950s suburban neighborhood, part of South San Francisco’s great post-war growth period. Here, just west of El Camino Real, are winding...
Brentwood
One of South San Francisco’s first post-war suburban neighborhoods, Brentwood was developed in the late 1940s on 132 acres of what was once part of a ranch belonging to...
Buri Buri
Named after the original Spanish land grant rancho that once covered all of South San Francisco — along with San Bruno, Millbrae and parts of Burlingame — the Buri Buri...
Diamond Heights/Peck's Lot
Diamond Heights and Peck’s Lot are a pair of small sub-districts located in and adjacent to the larger Paradise Valley neighborhood at the base of San Bruno Mountain....
Francisco Terrace
Tucked into a corner off of busy Spruce Avenue and El Camino Real is Francisco Terrace, a small residential neighborhood of single-family homes built between 1948 and 1950...
Mayfair Village
Mayfair Village’s roots lie in the U.S. war effort of the early 1940s which, in this case, turned vast acres of uninhabited marshland into temporary wartime workers’...
Old South SSF/Rocca
South San Francisco’s downtown core has seen the beginnings of a renaissance in recent years with new businesses and restaurants joining long-established local merchants on...
Parkway
Parkway is a small neighborhood located within the larger Sign Hill district, just north of downtown South San Francisco’s Grand Avenue. The subdivision was developed in...
Serra Highlands
It’s been a long time since a three-bedroom, two-bath home in Serra Highlands sold for $16,450 — 65 years, in fact, when the ambitious housing development broke ground on...
South San Francisco - Industrial
Southwood
Southwood, the classic mid-century residential neighborhood located just north of Avalon, was developed on part of the former Baden town site in the late 1940s and 1950s as...
Sterling Terrace /Stonegate
Sterling Terrace and Stonegate are a pair of neighborhoods located behind and west of South San Francisco’s iconic Sign Hill Park. Both came to be via South City’s post-war...
Sunshine Gardens
Sunshine Gardens is a classic post-war suburban subdivision, developed between 1953 and 1957 and offering street after street of neat, spacious mid-century single-family...
Westborough
Westborough is one of South San Francisco’s largest post-war housing developments. Built on diary land, the one-time “Callan Park” (named after its developers) was annexed...
Winston Manor
Located just north of Serra Highlands, between El Camino Real and Highway 280, Winston Manor is a significant part of the post-war suburban development that increased the...
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