This Chronicle article reports discounts at The Millennium, Cubix, Radiance and One Rincon, and discusses the general tenor around negotiating good deals for new homes.

The Millenium Tower in San Francisco is very high end, with a brand name known for cutting edge, luxury projects. Besides offering a downtown location, and massive square footage, the project also offers a second building with distinctive architecture that's full of loft style 'shells' ready to be finished out by the new owner. I have an associate who is under contract for one of these units. She looks forward to finishing it out exactlly to her own taste-- an advantage over purchasing a resale where you have to rip the whole thing apart and put it all together again.

The price per square foot at the Millennium ran up to $2,000+ when it opened over a year ago, and the project gained immediate notoriety when one of the top floor penthouses sold as raw space for $11M.  But last week they slashed prices by 15% across the board, even to buyers already in contract.

Cubix is at the total opposite end of the spectrum from the Millennium. Tiny units (under 400 sf) designed for first time buyers and pied a terre owners who are inclined to San Francisco edgier South of Market location. No parking. The small square footage is offset by super high ceilings, which create the impression that the units are larger than they really are. Starting prices ran from $279K when the project opened a few months ago, but I heard this week that they are slashing prices up to 30%.

One Rincon is the tallest building on the San Francisco skyline. It sits atop Rincon Hill at the end of 1st Street, right next to the Bay Bridge onramp. The finishings are medium-high quality-- it's the views people go for here, which go on forever and ever. Two-plus years ago, when the project first opened, investors and owner-occupants were snatching the units up and anticipating making a quick profit. Now the resales are at prices significantly off the initial pricing (at about 10-15%). Only one resale actually shows as closed in the MLS, although there were likely others that were sold off-market. The new homes office at One Rincon has about 30% of the inventory left with views back to downtown and Southwards towards Twin Peaks.

Radiance is another luxury project. It sits at the edge of the Mission Bay neighborhood. Those who buy here do so because they like the wide-open spaces-- both inside, because they enjoy big square footage, and outside, because of the low rise development that surrounds the project. They also appreciate the luxury finishings, and easy access to the freeway that runs Southward towards Silicon Valley. Radiance was originally scheduled to sell in two phases, but the developer has chosen to abandon construction on the second phase for now because of problems with financing and our softening market. Pricing on the first phase generally ran around $1200/psf, but word is that they are reducing their prices by 10% on selected units.

Our New Homes Group constantly swaps tips and information on what's selling for how much in different projects around the City. We discuss how far below the developers have gone below even reduced list prices developers (sometimes it's up to 20%) on properties  We also talk about which units seem to offer the best value and compare one project against another.  I love having access to this ‘brain trust' of information. It helps me negotiate the best deals for my buyers and lets me know what the pitfalls are around each project.

Virtually every new condo project in San Francisco has reduced prices. For more information on which ones are going at what kinds of discounts, call me at 415-577-0809.