St. Francis Wood is one of San Francisco's scarcest detached-home markets. Over the trailing six months of 2026, just 8 single-family homes closed, at a $4.16M median, $1,499 per square foot, and a median 13 days on market. There are no condos here: it is a pure single-family enclave, and the story is supply.
Unless otherwise noted, all market figures below are from San Francisco MLS data, covering the trailing six months through August 2026. St. Francis Wood sits on the western slope below Mount Davidson, a planned early-20th-century neighborhood of large detached houses on curving, tree-lined streets. What follows is where prices landed this year, which blocks and conditions drove the spread, the location and lifestyle behind the numbers, and the tradeoffs I would weigh before writing an offer here.
St. Francis Wood by the numbers: August 2026
The trailing-12-month picture reads softer than the recent months. Across the last year, 16 homes closed at a $3.94M median, down about 5.6% from the $4.17M of the year before, with the average time on market stretching to 23 days from 10. Read that alongside the six-month median of $4.16M and the recent monthly momentum, and the honest summary is a market that eased through 2025 and has firmed again this spring and summer, not one moving in a straight line. The one figure that barely moved is price per square foot: the trailing-12-month average of $1,310 is up just 0.5% from a year earlier, so buyers are paying about the same for space even as the median jumps around on the mix of homes that happen to sell.
Which homes drove the spread
Eight closings is a thin sample, so I read the individual sales rather than the median. The recent set ran from $2.61M to $5.30M, and the spread tracks block and condition more than any month-to-month trend.
At the top, 214 Santa Clara Avenue, a renovated 5-bedroom of 3,530 square feet, closed at $5.30M in March 2026 after 12 days, well above its $3.995M asking price. Two San Pablo Avenue homes show how much a view moves the number here: 70 San Pablo, a renovated 4-bedroom with panoramic ocean and city outlook, closed at $4.705M in just 8 days against a $2.995M list, and 154 San Pablo, with water views, closed at $4.2M. The renovated inventory is what commands the premiums; every one of the top sales this year was updated.
The floor of the range makes the point in reverse. 1135 Portola Drive, a 4-bedroom of 3,152 square feet, closed at $2.61M over 27 days at $828 per square foot, roughly half the neighborhood's median per-foot figure. Portola Drive is the busy arterial edge of St. Francis Wood, and a home on it trades at a discount to the quiet interior streets no matter how it presents. Location inside the neighborhood is a real price lever here, not a rounding error.
The middle of the range fills in the pattern. 20 San Leandro Way, a renovated 4-bedroom of 2,800 square feet, closed at $4.38M over 14 days, or $1,564 per square foot. 35 Yerba Buena Avenue, a 3-bedroom updated in 2022 with owned solar, closed at $4.12M in 13 days. And the highest per-foot number came from the smallest recent sale: 1435 Portola Drive, a renovated 3-bedroom of just 1,796 square feet with a city-lights outlook, closed at $3.2M in 5 days, or $1,782 per square foot. Small, updated, and view-blessed can out-earn larger homes on a per-foot basis.
Condition cuts the other way too. 95 Junipero Serra Boulevard, a vacant 4-bedroom of 3,340 square feet shown with virtually-staged photos, closed at $3.6M in 8 days at $1,078 per square foot, below the fully renovated interior homes. The read is consistent across the eight sales: buyers here pay up for move-in-ready and discount anything that shows empty or reads as a project.
The location behind the price
St. Francis Wood earns a 93 Walk Score and a 75 Transit Score, rated Excellent Transit, which is unusual for a low-density detached-home neighborhood. The reason is West Portal: the commercial strip along West Portal Avenue, with its shops, Peet's Coffee, and the CinéArts at the Empire cinema, sits just north, and the 23-Monterey Muni line runs along the neighborhood's Santa Clara Avenue edge about 160 meters from its center. Terrace Green Park anchors the interior, and the neighborhood also earns a 67 Bike Score, rated Bikeable. The setting is quiet and residential while a full retail street and frequent transit sit within a short walk. Several of this year's closings carried ocean or panoramic outlooks, and those view homes consistently drew the fastest offers.
The microclimate is part of the appeal. National Weather Service data puts St. Francis Wood at roughly 18 percentage points more clear-sky days than the citywide average and noticeably less fog, a meaningful difference from the neighborhoods a mile west toward the ocean. The housing stock is consistent: large detached houses built largely in the 1920s and 1930s (the recent sales span build years of 1919 to 1949), most on their own landscaped lots, per US Census and MLS records.
What to consider before you buy or sell here
The medians are only a starting point. In a market this thin, three tradeoffs decide the deal.
Supply is the real constraint
With 8 sales in six months and a single active listing, St. Francis Wood is one of the lowest-turnover neighborhoods in the city. The buyers I work with in this pocket win by being ready to move when the right house lists. For a seller, it means a well-prepared home faces little direct competition, which is part of why the renovated homes sold quickly this year.
Condition and block set the price, not the median
The $2.61M-to-$5.30M range is not noise. Renovated homes on the quiet interior streets drew the top numbers and the fastest sales, while the arterial-edge and less-updated homes sat longer and closed lower. I would not price either a buy or a sell off the headline median without adjusting for where the home sits and how it shows.
Financing costs still matter at this price
Even in a market where a clean all-cash offer can beat a higher financed one, the 30-year fixed at 6.66% (Freddie Mac) shapes what most buyers will stretch to. At a $4M-plus median, the carrying cost and the annual property-tax bill are real line items worth modeling before you write, and our guide to how San Francisco property tax works walks through the math for a home at this price.
How to play it, as a buyer or a seller
In a neighborhood with roughly 16 sales a year, the offer table matters more than the trend line. On the buy side, I would come in pre-underwritten and ready to close fast, because the homes that drew the shortest days on market this year were the turnkey ones that attracted competing offers. A clean, well-structured offer, whether cash or financed, tends to win here over one that asks the seller to wait. Financing is still the constraint at a $4M-plus median: the 30-year fixed at 6.66% (Freddie Mac) sets what most buyers can carry.
On the sell side, the levers are condition, presentation, and pricing to the block. The renovated homes on quiet interior streets closed fast and above ask this year, while the vacant and arterial-edge homes closed lower and slower. Two of this year's sales, 70 San Pablo Avenue and 214 Santa Clara Avenue, listed below $4M and closed at $4.705M and $5.30M, a reminder that pricing to invite competition can outperform pricing to the number you want. I would set the strategy off the specific comps for your block and condition, not the neighborhood median.
How St. Francis Wood fits the wider market
Two forces frame San Francisco in 2026: financing costs and the split between property types. The 30-year fixed averaged 6.66% the week of 8/27/2026, with the 15-year at 5.98% (Freddie Mac). Citywide, the condo segment has been rebounding while single-family homes held firm, but St. Francis Wood is insulated from the condo story entirely. It is single-family and nothing else, so its numbers track the top of the detached-home market, not the broader median. For the citywide backdrop, our San Francisco real estate market update breaks down all 10 districts by property type, and for another scarce west-side enclave, our Sea Cliff buyer's guide covers a similar dynamic.
How much does a home cost in St. Francis Wood in 2026?
In 2026, single-family homes in the neighborhood closed at a $4.16M median over the trailing six months, at $1,499 per square foot and a median 13 days on market (MLS). Individual sales ranged from $2.61M for a home on the arterial Portola Drive edge to $5.30M for a renovated 5-bedroom on a quiet interior street. There are no condos here, so every figure is a detached-house number.
How fast do homes sell in St. Francis Wood?
In 2026, the median home sold in 13 days over the trailing six months (MLS), fast for a $4M-plus market. Renovated homes on the interior streets moved quickest, several in 8 to 14 days, while a home on the busy Portola Drive edge took 27 days. Across the trailing 12 months the average stretched to 23 days, so pace depends heavily on condition and block.
Are St. Francis Wood home prices going up or down in 2026?
In 2026, they are roughly flat with recent firming. The trailing-six-month median sits at $4.16M, essentially even year over year, while the trailing-12-month median of $3.94M is down about 5.6% from the prior year (MLS). The neighborhood eased through 2025 and has strengthened again this spring and summer, but with only 8 recent sales, any single closing moves the average.
What kind of homes are in St. Francis Wood?
In 2026, the recent closed data shows a planned enclave of large detached single-family houses, most built in the 1920s and 1930s, on landscaped lots along curving streets (US Census, MLS). Recent sales ran from 1,796 to 3,530 square feet, typically 3 to 5 bedrooms. There are no condos, TICs, or multi-unit buildings in the closed data, which is why the neighborhood prices as a pure single-family market.
Is St. Francis Wood a good place to buy in 2026?
In 2026, for a buyer who wants a detached house with space, sun, and walkable access to West Portal, it is one of the strongest west-side options, with a $4.16M median and a 93 Walk Score (MLS, Walk Score). The tradeoffs are real: supply is thin at 8 sales in six months, and condition and block drive a wide price range. I would tell you it suits a buyer prepared to move decisively on the right home.
Talk to me about St. Francis Wood
A neighborhood this thin rewards knowing the individual comps, not just the median. If you want the full recent comp set adjusted for block, condition, and square footage, or a read on what your own St. Francis Wood home would list for today, I can pull the numbers behind this report and walk you through them. No pressure and no obligation.
Last updated: August 28, 2026
