From Listings to Landscapes: Real Estate in Bloom

It was the first Wednesday of April last week for our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group and time for our annual spring check of the Piedmont real estate market. Everyone seems to enjoy seeing homes that are for sale, and there was a good turnout of 38 walkers and three K-9 best friends at the Exedra.

Before we started walking, I provided some information on the national and local real estate market. A study from Bankrate, a financial services company, reported the median price of a U.S. home listed for sale was $418,000. But an article last week in the San Francisco Chronicle said that according to Zillow data the typical high-tier home in the San Francisco metropolitan area in February 2025 was worth $1.91 million. That’s almost 4% higher than in February 2024. But low-tier home values essentially stayed flat at just over $700,000.

High mortgage rates are a main driver for this. Rates are twice what they were five years ago, and they’ve kept first-time home buyers and homeowners unwilling to give up their lower mortgage rates out of the market. Wealthier buyers have the resources to make all-cash offers, or large down payments that reduce their monthly costs. Twenty-six percent of homes sold in 2024 were all cash offers. The luxury home inventory is also especially tight, even by Bay Area standards, making this part of the market more competitive.

The other major factor is the stock market. Buyers with large sums in stocks, including tech employees with stock options, have benefited from the market’s performance over the last two years, and are able to purchase expensive homes.

For Piedmont, Calia Homes did some research and found that based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data for the 20 years from 2005 to 2024, the median sales price of Piedmont homes only grew 73% from $1,420,000 to $2,450,000. Over the same period, the S&P 500 delivered a total return of roughly 830%, or an average annual return of about 8.4%. Homes may not have provided the best returns over the last 20 years, but Piedmont real estate is hot. A March report by Calia Homes had 10 homes pending or being sold since February. They sold or went pending in an average of 10.8 days and sold for 15% above their listing prices.

There were only six Piedmont homes listed for sale last week. Their listing prices ranged from $1,789,000 for a 4 bedroom/3 bath 1,855 square foot Scenic Avenue home to $15,000,000 for a 5 bedroom/7.5 bath 8,470 square foot Sea View Avenue mansion. A San Francisco mansion was recently listed for $38,000,000 and sold for $26,500,000, so Piedmont seems a relative bargain.

The Piedmont homes were spread out from Abbott Way on the far east side of Piedmont to two Palm Drive and Winsor Avenue homes on the southeast side of town. The Sea View mansion would have been interesting to see, but it is not visible from the street. The homes closest together were the ones on Palm and Winsor, so they were our destinations for the morning.

Off we went down Magnolia Avenue past the under-construction pool, as well as dogwoods, wisterias, and other pretty spring flowers. We came to a bamboo tree-lined path between 200 and 144 Magnolia and went down it to Palm Drive. Just up the street was 220 Palm. It’s a 3 bedroom/2.5 bath of 1,941 square feet and listed for $1,998,000. In the special language that realtors use, it is “nestled in the heart of Piedmont, this enchanting traditional home seamlessly blends timeless elegance with modern convenience. Awash in natural light, this home boasts gleaming hardwood floors, timeless period details and a thoughtful layout that balances privacy with open living spaces …”

After a sidewalk inspection and a group photo, we went up to Park View and Winsor Avenues, looking for the home at 1121. It is a 4-bedroom/2.5 bath 2,678 square foot home listed for $2,398,000. The agent wrote, “There’s something magical about this W.R. Yelland-designed storybook Carmel-style home that makes you feel at home the moment you step inside its enchanting wisteria covered turret entrance. Thoughtfully restored, it exudes charm with its curved brick staircase, hand-painted wood beam ceilings, leaded glass windows, and architecturally captivating fireplace …  Hurry, this is a very special offering!” It turned out we weren’t fast enough because a “Sale Pending” sign was on it.

These were the only two homes we could get to this morning, but the day was still young, so we continued down Winsor to Harvard Road. We went up it to where the roadway becomes Ranleigh Way, and Harvard takes a 90 degree right turn and continues. We went up Harvard to Prospect Road, where there’s a huge redwood in a front yard, to Wildwood Avenue. Redbud trees with lovely purple (?) buds in front of the entrance to Piedmont Park welcomed us for our return through the park to the city center. It had been a fun walk on a wonderful early spring morning.