Bernal Heights is a single-family-dominated San Francisco hill neighborhood where the median house sells near $2.0M and the typical home goes into contract in about two weeks. As of Q3 2026, prices sit roughly 13% above a year ago, with most sales landing between $1M and $3M.
Locals call it Red Hill (per Wikipedia). The streets were laid out during the Civil War by Army engineers from the Presidio, which is why so many of them carry the names of military men (per Wikipedia). The hill itself rises to a summit crowned by a microwave transmission tower, with Sutro Tower filling the western skyline. Unless otherwise noted, all market figures in this guide come from MLS data. After pulling comp sets on Bernal closings across 2026, I read this hill less as one market than as a stack of small ones, priced block by block and grade by grade.
The other thing worth saying up front: Bernal runs sunnier than the city as a whole. In 2026 National Weather Service readings, skies over the neighborhood were clear about 31% of the time against roughly 13% citywide, and foggy only about 4% of the time versus 10% across San Francisco. That is the microclimate Wikipedia describes as the reason a third wave of buyers arrived here in the 1990s, drawn to small houses and quick freeway access to the Peninsula. If you have shopped the fog line in the Sunset or the Richmond, the difference on a July afternoon is not subtle.
Bernal Heights by the numbers
The recency picture matters more than the year-long average, so weight the last two windows. Over the past 30 days, 19 homes closed at a $1.90M median, and over 90 days, 54 homes closed at a $1.95M median. Days on market held at a 14-day median across both windows, faster than the neighborhood's 26-day average over the trailing year. San Francisco as a whole ran a $1.8M median with a 12-day median over the last year, so Bernal trades right around the citywide number and moves a hair slower than the fastest corridors.
Where the price tiers sit
Sort the last twelve months of closings into price segments and the shape is clear. The $1M to $2M range is the center of gravity, at about 56% of sales (99 closings). Single-family houses dominate that segment (73 of them), many of them three-bedroom, and this is where a renovated two-bath house on a mid-slope street tends to land. Below it, the under-$1M segment is only about 9% of the market (16 closings) and is mostly condos and TICs rather than houses: six TICs, five condos, and a handful of smaller two-bedroom homes.
Move up and the houses take over completely. The $2M to $3M segment is about 27% of sales (48 closings), overwhelmingly single-family (41 of 48), and skews to three- and four-bedroom homes with parking, outdoor space, or a real view. The $3M to $5M segment is thin, about 7% (12 closings), and every one of those was a single-family house, typically four bedrooms. Only a single closing crossed $5M all year. If you are pricing a Bernal house against what sells in Noe Valley to the northwest, the ceiling here is lower and the middle is thicker.
By bedroom count, the median tells the same story: two-bedroom homes run about $1.425M, three-bedrooms about $1.8M, and four-bedrooms about $2.235M. The jump from two to three bedrooms is where most first-time Bernal buyers feel the budget stretch, because three-bedroom houses are the single largest slice of the market at about 41% of sales.
Where homes actually trade
Turnover is not evenly spread across the hill. Richland Avenue's lower blocks were the busiest single street this year, with four closings at a $1.4625M median. Harrison Street's 3200 stretch turned over three homes at a much higher $2.82M median, near $1,158 per sqft, and that block carries a 91 Walk Score. Bradford Street logged three sales at a $2.305M median. York Street's 1600 stretch, closer to the Mission edge, ran three closings at a $1.4M median.
The most walkable pockets cluster around Cortland Avenue, the commercial spine. Coleridge Street's 200 block scores a 96 Walk Score, a Walker's Paradise rating, and turned over three homes at a $638,777 median, the lowest of the busy streets. Moultrie Street's 200 block carries a 92 Walk Score with three sales near a $1.6M median. What ties the walkable blocks together is proximity to the daily-errands strip: the Bernal Heights Branch Library, the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, Progressive Grounds for coffee, and Wild Side West a few doors down, all pins on the map below (landmark data via OpenStreetMap).
Two closings show the top of the house market. On Ellsworth Street, a three-bed, two-bath sold for $2.65M in June 2026, and on Prospect Avenue a renovated three-bed with east-west light sold for $2.625M in June 2026. Near the summit on Prentiss Street, a fully detached renovated house with sweeping bay views closed at $2.38M in August 2026. Those are the numbers a seller of a turnkey view house points to, and the numbers a buyer has to beat.
How the homes break down by type and era
Bernal is a house market first. Over the last year, single-family houses were about 74% of sales, condos about 11%, TICs about 7%, and two-unit buildings about 4%. That mix is why a blended neighborhood median is misleading here: a condo near Cortland and a detached house near the summit are different purchases at different prices, and lumping them hides the spread.
The homes themselves are old and small by design. Per US Census ACS data, the median home in a central Bernal block group was built around 1938, and Wikipedia describes the housing as small houses, some with traditional Victorian or Edwardian architecture. On the ground that means a lot of two- and three-bedroom houses under 1,700 sqft: three-bedroom closings this year averaged about 1,623 sqft, and two-bedroom closings about 1,196 sqft. It also means many owners have held for a long time. Census ACS figures put owner-occupancy in that block group near 90%, which is part of why active inventory stays thin: at the time of writing only four homes were listed for sale across the whole neighborhood.
What to consider before buying here
Every Bernal pitch leads with the sun and the views. Here is the other side of the ledger, the part you should price in before you write an offer.
The hill is real, and so is the parking
I do not sugarcoat this part: the grade on the upper blocks is genuinely steep, and the Civil-War-era street grid was not drawn for two-car households. Older houses here were rarely built with real off-street parking, and the streets that give you the best views tend to give you the worst curb-parking odds. A view house near the hill's summit buys light and outlook at the cost of a daily climb.
Transit means buses, not trains
There is no rail station inside the neighborhood. Bernal is served by Muni buses: the 24 Divisadero and 67 Bernal Heights on the hill itself, and the 14, 14R, and 49 along the Mission Street edge, per SFMTA route data. The nearest stops sit within about 105 meters of Cortland Avenue for many blocks, which is why the neighborhood still earns a 77 Transit Score, an Excellent Transit rating. But if a one-seat train ride matters to you, this is a bus neighborhood, softened by the fact that Census ACS figures show about a quarter of local workers now work from home.
Older houses carry older systems
With a median build year around 1938 per US Census ACS data, a lot of these houses sit on foundations and framing that predate modern seismic code. Several of this year's higher closings were explicitly renovated, and the fixers that traded did so at a visible discount. Budget for a foundation and drainage inspection on the hill, and read the renovation quality closely, because renovated houses and as-is fixers here can sit hundreds of thousands of dollars apart.
How to buy in Bernal right now
If you are buying here in 2026, here is the discipline I coach. First, anchor to the last 30 to 90 days, not the year: the market has moved up through the spring and summer, from a $1.65M monthly median in March to about $2.19M in August, and a comp from last winter will underprice you. Second, respect the overbid. Several three-bedroom houses this year listed in the $1.0M to $1.3M range and closed near or above $1.9M: 149 Anderson Street asked $1.095M and sold for $1.91M, 119 Ellert Street asked $1.295M and sold for $1.855M. The list price on a Bernal house is a starting gun, not an estimate, so build your comp math off closed sales and ignore the ask.
Third, decide early where you stand on condition. A renovated house on a good block will draw a crowd and a premium, and a fixer will trade at a real discount but hand you the foundation and systems risk from the section above. I would rather lose a deal than let a client overpay on a house that photographs well and inspects badly. If you plan to sell a Bernal house instead, the same recency rules apply in reverse, and staging a turnkey house pays here (our guide to staging costs walks through the math). Buyers cross-shopping the quieter blocks often look at Glen Park to the south, so price against both when you list.
Frequently asked questions about Bernal Heights
How much do homes in Bernal Heights cost in 2026?
As of Q3 2026, the median single-family home in Bernal Heights sells for about $2.0M over the trailing six months, while condos run near $1.24M and TICs near $1.08M. Across the last 30 days, the all-property median was $1.90M on 19 closings. Most sales fall between $1M and $3M, and only a single home crossed $5M in the past year, so this reads as a mid-tier San Francisco house market rather than a trophy one.
Are Bernal Heights home prices going up or down?
Up: the median sale price rose about 13% over the year ending August 2026, and average price per sqft rose about 14% over the same stretch. Month by month, the median climbed from about $1.65M in March 2026 to about $2.19M in August 2026. Days on market also tightened, from a 33-day average a year earlier to 26 days over the trailing year, a second signal that demand firmed rather than softened through 2026.
How fast do homes sell in Bernal Heights?
As of the last 30 days in 2026, the median Bernal Heights home goes into contract in about 14 days, and the 90-day window shows the same 14-day median. That is quick, though not the fastest in the city: San Francisco as a whole ran a 12-day median over the past year. Renovated houses on walkable blocks move fastest, and this year several listed low and closed well above ask within two weeks.
What types of homes are for sale in Bernal Heights?
In the twelve months ending August 2026, single-family houses made up about 74% of Bernal Heights sales, with condos at about 11%, TICs at about 7%, and two-unit buildings at about 4%. It is a house market, mostly two- and three-bedroom homes built around 1938 per US Census ACS data. Three-bedroom houses are the largest single slice at about 41% of closings, so families trading up compete hardest in that segment.
Is Bernal Heights a walkable neighborhood?
As of 2026, Bernal Heights carries a 94 Walk Score, rated a Walker's Paradise, along with a 77 Transit Score and a 61 Bike Score. The walkability concentrates around Cortland Avenue, where individual blocks score even higher: Coleridge Street's 200 block hits a 96 Walk Score. The daily errands strip holds the library, the neighborhood center, coffee at Progressive Grounds, and a row of restaurants, so many residents run their week on foot even where the hill is steep.
What is the weather like in Bernal Heights?
As of 2026, Bernal Heights runs sunnier than the San Francisco average. In National Weather Service readings this year, skies over the neighborhood were clear about 31% of the time against roughly 13% citywide, and foggy only about 4% of the time versus 10% across the city. Temperatures track close to the citywide mean, within about a third of a degree, so the real difference is sunlight and clear sky, not heat.
Talk to me about Bernal Heights
I'm Chris Chour, founder and broker of EON Real Estate. Most of my work is single-family and condo transactions in San Francisco's luxury neighborhoods, and Bernal is one I track block by block. When you are ready to look at real numbers, I can pull the block-level comp set for the streets you are considering, walk you through what renovated versus as-is is actually worth on this hill, and tell you where the current asking prices are honest and where they are a starting gun.
