San Francisco real estate agent Butch Haze recently helped a client search for a home in Noe Valley. The wealthy buyers — one of whom works at one of the city’s famed artificial intelligence companies — fell so in love with a particular property that they told Haze they’d do almost anything to get it. They submitted an offer 85% over the asking price, and Haze assumed they’d be guaranteed to win.
Instead, the couple lost out to someone who offered 90% more than the list price.
These types of stories have become so common in the past six months in San Francisco’s luxury housing market that Haze said nothing is predictable anymore. While LA’s most coveted mansions languish on the market, San Francisco’s high-end real estate is getting snapped up in record time. It’s a tale of two very different cities right now, as the property markets in the state’s largest metro areas move in opposite directions. Zillow data analyzed by SFGATE shows that from January to July 2026, sales of luxury properties in San Francisco were up 14.7% year over year, while Los Angeles sales had dipped 7.3%…