Episode 2 · Property Types & Supply Dynamics
Mission Terrace Housing: Home Size, Age and Tenure
Mission Terrace is almost entirely single-family housing: small, older homes on narrow lots in a zoning district built around one home per lot. This tab describes what is built here, how large and how old the homes are, how long owners have held them and what the county assesses them at. Assessed value is a tax figure that follows the purchase date, so it is explained before it is compared.
💡 Key Insights & Takeaways
- Single-family homes make up 90.7% of the 2,451 residential parcels in Mission Terrace, and 82.9% of them are one storey.
- The median single-family home has 1,295 square feet of living area on a lot of 2,495 square feet, across all 2,222 single-family parcels.
- The median single-family home was built in 1927, and 93.9% were built before 1950.
- Among the 1,528 single-family parcels with a recorded transfer date, the median hold is 22.0 years, and the ownership dates on file stop at 23 December 2024, so that figure runs short.
- Assessed value follows the purchase date: $996 per square foot for homes last transferred in the 2020s against $321 for the 1990s, and neither figure is market value.
If you are deciding whether a Mission Terrace home fits what you need, start with the size and age: as of 30 September 2026, the median single-family home has 1,295 square feet of living area and was built in 1927, and 90.7% of the 2,451 residential parcels are single-family.
At a glance
Caption: Key figures for the residential parcels of Mission Terrace as of 30 September 2026. Size, age and tenure figures describe single-family parcels.
| Measure | Value | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Residential parcels | 2,451 | 30 September 2026 |
| Single-family share of residential parcels | 90.7% | 30 September 2026 |
| Median living area, single-family | 1,295 square feet | 30 September 2026 |
| Median lot size, across all 2,222 single-family parcels | 2,495 square feet | 30 September 2026 |
| Median year built, single-family | 1927 | 30 September 2026 |
| Median years held, among 1,528 single-family parcels with a transfer date | 22.0 years | 30 September 2026 |
| Single-family parcels with the homeowners' exemption | 55.3% | 30 September 2026 |
What kinds of homes are in Mission Terrace?
Mission Terrace holds 2,451 residential parcels as of 30 September 2026, and nine in ten are single-family homes. A further 236 parcels are commercial or other non-residential uses, and this tab leaves them out of every figure.
Caption: Residential parcels in Mission Terrace by type, as of 30 September 2026.
| Type | Parcels | Share of residential parcels |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family | 2,222 | 90.7% |
| Multi-family | 158 | 6.5% |
| Condominium | 69 | 2.8% |
| Vacant land | 2 | 0.1% |
San Francisco files condominium units under single-family use, so the 69 condominiums here are single-family-use parcels with no lot of their own, counted as condominiums. Without that step they would sit inside the single-family count.
How big are the homes and lots?
The median single-family home has 1,295 square feet of living area. The median lot is 2,495 square feet, across all 2,222 single-family parcels. Floor-area ratio is living area divided by lot area, and the median here is 0.53, so the typical home covers about half of its lot's area in floor space.
Caption: Size and layout of single-family parcels in Mission Terrace, as of 30 September 2026.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median living area | 1,295 square feet |
| Median lot size, across all 2,222 single-family parcels | 2,495 square feet |
| Median floor-area ratio | 0.53 |
| One storey | 82.9% |
| Two or more storeys | 17.2% |
| One bathroom | 64.1% |
| Three or more bathrooms | 12.0% |
| Most common zoning code | RH1, 97.9% of single-family parcels |
The median home has one bathroom. The zoning code is the district's own label and is shown as the city lists it, so check the exact parcel with the city before relying on it.
How old are the homes?
The median single-family home in Mission Terrace was built in 1927, and 93.9% were built before 1950. Only 0.9% were built in 2000 or later. In a stock this old, renovation history matters more than build year, and the property data for this area does not carry it.
How long have owners held their homes?
This section counts the 1,528 single-family parcels, 68.8% of the single-family stock, that carry a recorded transfer date. The other 694 parcels, 31.2%, carry no transfer date at all and sit outside every figure here. The median hold is 22.0 years. Of these parcels, 54.0% have been held 20 years or more and 24.8% for 30 years or more, while 8.4% last changed hands in the five years to 30 September 2026.
Treat these as minimums. The most recent transfer on file is dated 23 December 2024, which is 21.2 months before 30 September 2026, so every hold length runs short by about that gap. No transfer in the last twelve months is recorded at all, so a recent-buyer group is empty because of the record, not because nobody bought.
What does the county assess these homes at?
Assessed value is San Francisco's property tax figure under Proposition 13: a base-year value raised by no more than two percent a year and reset when ownership changes or new construction is added. It is not market value, and comparing assessed values between homes bought in different years compares purchase years more than present worth.
The median assessed value is $499,380, and the land is 59.2% of it at the median; on 73.5% of single-family parcels the land is more than half of the assessed value. The median assessed value per square foot of living area is $375, an assessment measure and never a market price per square foot.
The purchase date explains most of the spread. Single-family homes of nearly the same size are assessed very differently depending on when they last changed hands.
Caption: Median assessed value per square foot of living area for single-family parcels in Mission Terrace by date of last recorded transfer, as of 30 September 2026. Assessed value is not market value.
| Last recorded transfer | Assessed value per square foot | Median living area |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | $996 | 1,300 square feet |
| 1990s | $321 | 1,288 square feet |
| No transfer date on record | $122 | not shown |
Homes last transferred in the 2020s are assessed at 3.1 times the 1990s figure per square foot, at almost the same size. The 694 parcels with no transfer date sit at the bottom of the range.
How many owners live in their homes?
The homeowners' exemption is claimed by an owner who lives in the home, and 55.3% of single-family parcels carry it. Read that as a floor under owner occupancy, not a measure of it. A parcel without the exemption is not shown to be a rental, because the exemption must be filed and recent buyers may not have filed yet.
Exempt parcels have a median assessed value of $453,639 and a median hold of 24.3 years. Parcels without it have a median assessed value of $571,073 and a median hold of 16.4 years, both on the tenure basis described above.
How many homes could be candidates for redevelopment?
On paper, 544 single-family parcels, 24.5%, score as strong candidates for teardown or redevelopment, and 40.3% score as moderate. Treat both as upper bounds. The data carries no effective year built, so the score cannot rule out homes that were already renovated, and the figure is not a count of homes that will be rebuilt. The score also tracks the purchase date, because under Proposition 13 the land and improvement split follows the date of the last transfer.
Where do I find prices and homes for sale?
This tab covers what is built. For what homes cost and how fast they go under contract, see the Mission Terrace market guide. For the commute, schools and daily life, see the Mission Terrace neighborhood guide.
Common questions
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