Episode 2 · Property Types & Supply Dynamics
Bernal Heights Housing: Houses, Condos, Age, Assessments
Bernal Heights is known for a hill of small houses on small lots, but houses are only part of what is built there. Apartment buildings and condo units hold the rest of the homes. This guide shows the mix of building types, how big and how old the houses are, how much of their assessed value is land, and how long owners stay.
💡 Key Insights & Takeaways
- Houses are 72.8% of the 6,847 residential parcels in Bernal Heights but only 52.7% of the homes, because the parcels hold at least 9,470 homes in all.
- The median house has 1,250 square feet of living space, as the county measures it, on a 1,751-square-foot lot, and 45.6% of houses sit on a lot of 1,746 to 1,751 square feet.
- The median house was built in 1923, and 58.8% of the houses built before 1920 have just one bathroom.
- Land makes up a median 57.0% of a house's assessed value, and the rebuild screen of 34.9% is a ceiling, because the data carries no renovation dates.
- The median house last changed hands 17.1 years ago, and that runs short, because recorded transfers end in December 2024.
As of 8 October 2026, two same-size Bernal Heights houses are assessed 4.09 times apart: $1,650,170 for one last sold in 2020 through 2024, against $403,261 for one last sold before 2000. Those are tax figures, not prices, and recorded sales end in 2024. The sale year explains the gap, not the house.
Bernal Heights housing at a glance, as of 8 October 2026.
| Measure | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Residential parcels | 6,847 | Parcels, not homes; each condo unit is a parcel of its own |
| Share of parcels that are houses | 72.8% | 4,986 houses on their own lots |
| Homes the parcels hold | At least 9,470 | A floor; 41.5% sit inside multifamily buildings |
| Median living space of a house | 1,250 square feet | The county's measure, which differs from listed sizes; n = 4,893 houses |
| Median time since a house last changed hands | 17.1 years | Runs short, because recorded transfers end in December 2024; n = 3,582 dated houses |
What kind of homes are in Bernal Heights?
Houses make up 72.8% of the parcels in Bernal Heights but only 52.7% of the homes, as of 8 October 2026. The neighborhood holds 6,847 residential parcels, and 4,986 of them are houses on their own lots. Another 555 are condo units, 8.1% of the parcels, and 1,306 are multifamily parcels, 19.1%. None is vacant land. The county has no condo code, so a parcel coded as a house with no lot of its own counts here as a condo unit. Tenancy-in-common interests sit in that count too.
A parcel is not a home, because one building can hold several. Of the multifamily parcels, 1,161 are buildings of two to four units and 106 are buildings of five or more. Six of those hold 20 units or more, a small count. The other 39 multifamily parcels record no unit count. The buildings that record one hold 3,929 units between them. Add the houses and the condo units, and the parcels hold at least 9,470 homes. That total is a floor, because the 39 parcels without a count add none, and in-law units that are not on the county's list add none either. 41.5% of the homes sit inside multifamily buildings, and 52.7% are houses. If you want a house of your own, you are choosing from 4,986 of them.
Residential parcels in Bernal Heights by type, as of 8 October 2026.
| Type | Parcels | Share of residential parcels |
|---|---|---|
| Houses on their own lots | 4,986 | 72.8% |
| Condo units | 555 | 8.1% |
| Multifamily parcels | 1,306 | 19.1% |
| Of those, buildings of two to four units | 1,161 | Included above |
| Of those, buildings of five or more units | 106 | Included above |
| Vacant residential land | 0 | None |
| All residential parcels | 6,847 | Not applicable |
How big are Bernal Heights houses, and how much lot comes with them?
The median Bernal Heights house has 1,250 square feet of living space on a 1,751-square-foot lot, as of 8 October 2026. Half of the houses measure between 1,000 and 1,625 square feet, and 22.4% have under 1,000 square feet. Lots run small and alike. Half of them fall between 1,750 and 2,495 square feet, 78.3% are under 2,500 square feet, and 45.6% of houses sit on a lot of 1,746 to 1,751 square feet.
Living area here is the county's own measure, and it is recorded for 4,893 of the 4,986 houses. It differs from the size in a listing by more than 20% on 551 of 1,668 matched listings, or 33.0%. Use these sizes to compare one house with another, not to check a listing.
Because the lots are small and alike, the houses stand low rather than tall. The median floor-area ratio is 0.63, which means a house's living space divided by the area of its lot comes to 0.63, and only 11.9% of houses have more living space than ground. The median house rises 1 storey, 59.5% sit on one level and 40.5% rise two storeys or more.
Inside, the median house has 1 bathroom, and 53.3% of houses have just one. 13.8% have three or more. A bedroom count is recorded on 57.5% of houses, so the bedroom figures describe that group. In it the median is 3 bedrooms, and the most common layout, at 26.5% of the houses with both counts recorded, is 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
House size and layout in Bernal Heights, as of 8 October 2026. Living space is the county's measure, not the listed size.
| Measure | Value | Houses counted (n) |
|---|---|---|
| Median living space | 1,250 square feet | 4,893 |
| Half of houses between | 1,000 and 1,625 square feet | 4,893 |
| Median lot | 1,751 square feet | 4,984 |
| Half of lots between | 1,750 and 2,495 square feet | 4,984 |
| Houses on a lot of 1,746 to 1,751 square feet | 45.6% | 4,984 |
| Median floor-area ratio | 0.63 | 4,891 |
| Houses on one level | 59.5% | 4,948 |
| Median bathrooms | 1 | 4,958 |
| Median bedrooms, where a count is recorded | 3 | 2,869 |
How old are Bernal Heights homes?
The median Bernal Heights house was built in 1923, as of 8 October 2026, and 47.2% of houses went up before 1920. By 1950, 76.4% had been built, and only 2.5% date from 2000 or later. The buildings of two to four units are older still, with a median build year of 1908 across 1,154 buildings. Condo units have a median build year of 1926 across 541 units, and 28.1% of them date from 2000 or later.
Age tracks layout in this stock. 58.8% of the houses built before 1920 have a single bathroom, against 31.0% of the houses built in 1950 or later. Effective year built, the county field that would show a rebuild or a major update, is blank on every parcel, so these figures cannot tell you which houses have been updated.
Is it the land or the house that carries the assessed value in Bernal Heights?
On most Bernal Heights houses the land carries more of the assessed value than the building does. As of 8 October 2026, land makes up a median 57.0% of a house's assessed value, and land outweighs the building on 58.8% of houses. The median land value is $408,077 and the median building value is $304,124. These are Proposition 13 assessed values, not what the land or the house would sell for. The split is the county's allocation of a value set at the last sale, not a current appraisal of the land against the building.
A screen for houses that could be rebuilt flags 34.9% of them as strong candidates, but that figure is a ceiling. Effective year built is blank on every parcel, so every house counts as never updated and the score runs high. Four of the five conditions can be tested, and 8.4% of houses meet three or more of those four. Neither figure says any house will be rebuilt.
Why do Bernal Heights assessed values vary so much?
The median Bernal Heights house is assessed at $719,695 as of 8 October 2026, and that figure says more about when each house last changed hands than about the house. Proposition 13 sets an assessed value at a sale and lets it rise no more than 2% a year until the next change of ownership. Houses last transferred in 2020 through 2024 carry a median $1,693,200 against $426,767 for those transferred from 1987 through 1999, which is 3.97 times as much. Recorded transfers end in December 2024, so 2020 through 2024 is the newest group the data can show.
Size does not explain the gap. Among houses of 1,000 to 1,499 square feet on lots of 1,500 to 2,499 square feet, those last transferred in 2020 through 2024 carry a median $1,650,170 against $403,261 before 2000, or 4.09 times as much. Condo units show the same pattern at a smaller multiple. Among units with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, those last transferred in 2020 through 2024 carry a median $1,274,490 against $765,822 before 2010, or 1.66 times as much, counted among units with a recorded bedroom count.
The homeowners' exemption, which marks a home its owner lives in and filed for, does not explain the gap either. Houses that carry it have a median assessed value of $519,024 against $992,602 for houses without it, and neither is a market value. Inside every transfer era, though, the two groups sit within 4.4% of each other. The overall gap follows how long each group has stayed, as the next section shows.
When you buy, your own assessed value resets at that sale. A seller's or a neighbor's assessed value tells you the year they bought, not what yours will be. The data carries no tax amount, so this page states none.
Median assessed value of Bernal Heights homes by when they last changed hands, as of 8 October 2026. These are Proposition 13 assessed values, not market values, and recorded transfers end in December 2024.
| Homes compared | Last changed hands | Median assessed value | Homes (n) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All houses | 1987 through 1999 | $426,767 | 986 |
| All houses | 2020 through 2024 | $1,693,200 | 763 |
| Houses of 1,000 to 1,499 square feet on lots of 1,500 to 2,499 square feet | Before 2000 | $403,261 | 340 |
| Houses of 1,000 to 1,499 square feet on lots of 1,500 to 2,499 square feet | 2020 through 2024 | $1,650,170 | 260 |
| Condo units with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms | Before 2010 | $765,822 | 24 |
| Condo units with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms | 2020 through 2024 | $1,274,490 | 23 |
How long do owners hold Bernal Heights homes?
The median Bernal Heights house last changed hands 17.1 years ago, as of 8 October 2026, and that figure runs short. Recorded transfers end on 31 December 2024, 21.2 months before that date, and none appears after it. Every hold figure here is understated by about that gap, and a recent buyer still shows under the owner before them. Transfer dates begin on 2 January 1987, so no hold can show longer than about 39.8 years.
Among the 3,582 houses with a dated transfer, 67.3% have been held 10 years or more, 43.8% for 20 years or more and 19.0% for 30 years or more. A further 28.2% of houses carry no transfer date, which means no transfer is recorded since 1987. It does not mean a hold of any set length. Houses with the homeowners' exemption have a median hold of 22.4 years against 10.6 years for houses without it, and both run short for the same reason. Condo units show a median hold of 8.9 years.
Only 12.5% of dated houses recorded a transfer in the five years to 8 October 2026. The data ends in December 2024, so that share covers October 2021 through December 2024 only, and it says how often homes changed hands, not how many were rebuilt.
How long Bernal Heights homes have been held, as of 8 October 2026. Every figure runs short, because recorded transfers end in December 2024.
| Measure | Value | Homes (n) |
|---|---|---|
| Median hold, houses | 17.1 years | 3,582 |
| Houses held 10 years or more | 67.3% | 3,582 |
| Houses held 20 years or more | 43.8% | 3,582 |
| Houses held 30 years or more | 19.0% | 3,582 |
| Houses with no transfer date | 28.2% | 4,986 |
| Median hold, houses with the homeowners' exemption | 22.4 years | 1,844 |
| Median hold, houses without the exemption | 10.6 years | 1,738 |
| Median hold, condo units | 8.9 years | 375 |
| Houses last transferred in the five years to 8 October 2026 | 12.5% | 3,582 |
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