Episode 2 · Property Types & Supply Dynamics
Noe Valley Houses: Size, Age, Land Share and Assessments
Noe Valley is known for old San Francisco houses on small lots of nearly the same size, many of them kept by one owner for decades. This page shows what is built here: how many houses there are next to condos and small apartment buildings, how big and how old they are, how much of their assessed value is land, and how long owners keep them.
💡 Key Insights & Takeaways
- Of the 6,513 residential parcels in Noe Valley, 2,985 are houses, at least 1,559 are condo units and 1,901 are buildings of two or more units.
- The median house has 1,560 square feet of recorded living area, which can differ from a listing's figure, on a median lot of 2,848 square feet.
- The median house was built in 1909, and 86.4% of houses with a recorded year were built before 1950.
- 40.3% of houses that record a bathroom count have just one bathroom, even though three bedrooms with two bathrooms is the most common layout.
- On sales recorded through April 2025, the median Noe Valley house has been held 14.5 years, and 37.9% of houses with a recorded sale have not changed hands in 20 years or more.
If you are working out what a Noe Valley house costs to hold, start here: as of 30 September 2026, a 1,500 to 2,499 square-foot house last sold since 2020 carries a median assessed value 3.57 times that of one last sold before 2000, on sales recorded through April 2025. Assessed value is not market value.
At a glance
This table gives the headline facts about Noe Valley's houses as of 30 September 2026. Living area is the recorded figure, which often differs from a listing's. Assessed values are Proposition 13 values, not market values, and sale dates run only through April 2025.
| Measure | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Houses among residential parcels | 2,985 of 6,513 | All residential parcels |
| Median living area, house | 1,560 square feet | 2,715 houses with a recorded area |
| Median year built, house | 1909 | 2,984 houses with a recorded year |
| Median time held, house | 14.5 years | 2,228 houses with a recorded sale |
| Assessed value gap, same-size houses, sold since 2020 against before 2000 | 3.57× | 189 and 209 houses of 1,500 to 2,499 square feet |
What kind of homes make up Noe Valley?
Houses are the largest group, but they are fewer than half of the parcels. As of 30 September 2026, 2,985 of Noe Valley's 6,513 residential parcels, or 45.8%, are houses with a lot of their own. Another 23.9% are condo units, and 29.2% are buildings of two or more units. A parcel is a unit of land, not a home, so one building parcel can hold several homes.
The county files many condos under its house label. They are counted here by whether the unit has a lot of its own, so the condo count of 1,559 is a floor and the house count runs slightly high. Of the 1,901 buildings of two or more units, 1,526 hold two to four units and 320 hold five or more. The market guide's sale figures do not cover the sale of a whole building of this kind, so the market pace for these buildings is not measured.
This table shows the residential parcels by type as of 30 September 2026. The last row is gaps in the record, not open land.
| Type | Parcels | Share of 6,513 |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,985 | 45.8% |
| Condo units, a floor | 1,559 | 23.9% |
| Buildings of two or more units | 1,901 | 29.2% |
| Records with no year built or floor area | — | 1.0% |
How big are Noe Valley houses, and how are they laid out?
The median house has 1,560 square feet of living area on a median lot of 2,848 square feet. The middle half of houses run from 1,175 to 2,080 square feet, and 75.5% fall between 1,000 and 2,499 square feet. Those areas are the recorded figures, and a listing often quotes a quite different area for the same house, so compare like with like.
The lots barely vary. 97.1% of lots are under 4,000 square feet, and the middle half run from 2,278 to 2,901 square feet. The median house has a floor area ratio of 0.62, meaning its total floor area divided by the area of its lot. You choose between houses here, not between pieces of land.
The bathroom count is where the houses split. 40.3% of the 2,966 houses that record a bathroom count have just one, while the median is 2 bathrooms and 27.9% have three or more. The median house has 3 bedrooms, and 68.9% of the 1,870 houses that record a bedroom count have three or four. Three bedrooms with two bathrooms is the most common layout, at 23.4% of those houses. 60.0% of houses have two stories or more.
The condo option is smaller. The median condo unit has 1,300 square feet, measured on the 509 units of 1,559 that record a living area, so that figure comes from a sample of the condos.
This table shows the size of Noe Valley houses as of 30 September 2026, using the recorded living area.
| Measure | Value | Houses counted |
|---|---|---|
| Median living area | 1,560 square feet | 2,715 |
| Middle half of living area | 1,175 to 2,080 square feet | 2,715 |
| Share between 1,000 and 2,499 square feet | 75.5% | 2,715 |
| Median lot | 2,848 square feet | 2,985 |
| Middle half of lot size | 2,278 to 2,901 square feet | 2,985 |
| Share of lots under 4,000 square feet | 97.1% | 2,985 |
How old are Noe Valley houses?
Most are more than a century old. As of 30 September 2026, the median house was built in 1909. 66.2% of the 2,984 houses with a recorded year were built before 1920, 86.4% before 1950, and only 2.4% in 2000 or later.
No renovation dates are on record for these houses, so the figures cannot tell you how far any one house has been rebuilt inside. For a house this old, the permit history is the first thing to ask for.
How much of a Noe Valley house's assessed value is the land?
Most of it. As of 30 September 2026, the median house is assessed at $777,794 for the land and $533,129 for the building, and the median land share is 60.0%. The land is assessed higher than the building on 69.7% of houses. The median assessed value of a house is $1,354,560, or $824 per square foot of recorded living area.
These are Proposition 13 values, not market values or sale prices. The county sets the split between land and building when a house is last reassessed, so it shows the split at purchase, not today. A low building value often marks a long hold rather than a small house. On lots this small and this alike, a high land share reflects the location, not the size of the lot.
How long do owners keep Noe Valley houses?
A long time. As of 30 September 2026, the median house has been held 14.5 years, and 37.9% of the 2,228 houses with a recorded sale have not changed hands in 20 years or more. The recorded sale dates end in April 2025, so any house sold since then still shows its earlier sale, and recent changes of ownership are left out.
52.7% of the 2,985 houses carry the homeowners' exemption, which marks a home its owner lives in and filed for. That share is a floor under how many owners live in their houses, not a full count. Owners who carry the exemption have held a median 21.6 years, against 8.8 years for the rest. Among condo units, 40.3% carry the exemption.
Only 14.3% of houses with a recorded sale changed hands in the last five years the record covers. 25.4% of houses carry no recorded sale date at all, and they are left out of the hold figures.
This table shows how long Noe Valley houses have been held as of 30 September 2026, on sales recorded through April 2025, for the 2,228 houses with a recorded sale.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median time held | 14.5 years |
| Held 10 years or more | 61.9% |
| Held 20 years or more | 37.9% |
| Held 30 years or more | 16.0% |
| Median time held, with the homeowners' exemption | 21.6 years |
| Median time held, without it | 8.8 years |
| Changed hands in the last five years recorded | 14.3% |
Why do two Noe Valley houses of the same size carry such different assessments?
The year of the last sale explains it. Under Proposition 13, an assessed value rises by no more than 2% a year and resets when a house changes hands. As of 30 September 2026, houses last sold in 2020 or later carry a median assessed value of $2,601,000, against $698,474 for houses last sold before 2000, a gap of 3.72×. Holding size fixed, the houses of 1,500 to 2,499 square feet show $2,913,120 against $816,498.
The same pattern shows up with the homeowners' exemption. Houses that carry it are assessed at a median $910,676, against $1,842,126 for the rest. Their owners have held them longer.
None of these figures is a market value, and sale dates run only through April 2025. When you buy, the county resets the assessed value from your own purchase, so a seller's assessment tells you nothing about yours.
This table shows the median assessed value of Noe Valley houses by the year of the last sale, as of 30 September 2026, on sales recorded through April 2025. These are Proposition 13 values, not market values.
| Last recorded sale | All houses | Houses of 1,500 to 2,499 square feet |
|---|---|---|
| Before 2000 | $698,474 (525 houses) | $816,498 (209 houses) |
| 2020 or later | $2,601,000 (561 houses) | $2,913,120 (189 houses) |
| Ratio | 3.72× | 3.57× |
Common questions
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