A new survey by San Francisco-based Paragon Real Estate shows that around 60% of home sellers are leaving the city after selling. Their main reasons for relocating are schools and raising families, followed by affordability, job-related reasons like relocation or commute, and retirement. Only 25% of sellers put their homes on the market in order to buy another place in the city. The final 15% are trust or investor sales, or people moving into rentals or retirement homes.
The survey also found that the average age of home buyers in the city is decreasing and is now in the mid-thirties. 47% of these buyers are employed in high tech, and 50% are first-time buyers, far outpacing the US average of 30% new home buyers. This influx of young, affluent buyers has led to 20% of home buyers that originally hoped to buy in the city giving up and searching for a new home elsewhere.
· Home Buyer-Seller Dynamics in San Francisco [Paragon Real Estate]