From freeway-bisected loser to urban renaissance pedestrian paradise winner. Sunny. Central. Flat. Where Victorians make friends with modern condos. Great shops, boutiques, and restaurants served by great transit. A San Francisco success story.
Hayes Valley: trendy, upscale, vibrant, and reinvigorated. What used to be a not-so-posh neighborhood, cut in half by the elevated Central Freeway in the 1950s, has been transformed in the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The elevated road was damaged in the quake, and neighborhood activists campaigned to have it removed.
When it came down, Octavia Boulevard was no longer a darkened tunnel — it’s now a wide, tree-lined boulevard. Infill housing has sprouted up on most of the lots left empty by the ghosts of on- and off-ramps gone by. Hayes Street is a mecca of trendy boutiques, bars, and restaurants, and Patricia’s Green (named for Patricia Walkup, a huge force in the neighborhood’s improvement) provides a place to play, display art, eat ice cream, and visit with neighbors.
Hayes Valley Neighborhood Vibe
What was once a rough neighborhood, sliced in half by the elevated Central Freeway, is now one of San Francisco’s most coveted, quaint neighborhoods. Locally owned shops and eateries line leafy Hayes Street. Patricia’s Green is a focal point of the neighborhood, with a rotating art exhibit, shipping containers-turned-eateries, and a playground.
Popular Hayes Valley Home Styles
High rises are verboten here, with condos and unit buildings rising no more than five or six stories. Victorian and Edwardian homes nestle up next to new condos — the infill after the Loma Prieta earthquake that took down the Central Freeway. Condos in smaller buildings and TICs are common, too.
Getting Around in Hayes Valley
Homes on the south end of Hayes Valley are a short walk away from the N-Judah, and several bus lines serve the neighborhood as well. Bicyclists know Hayes Valley for the Wiggle, and those who are car-free appreciate the flat blocks of Hayes Valley making walks for errands a breeze.
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Median sales price is calculated based on sold data and doesn’t account for seller concessions. Median price represents the point at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. In smaller neighborhoods like many of those found in San Francisco, this metric is less likely to be influenced by extremely high or low sales prices that don’t represent the typical neighborhood home.
Days on Market indicates how quickly or slowly homes are selling in the neighborhood. The lower the days on market (DOM), the stronger the market is for sellers, all other things being equal.
The number of homes available for sale in active status at the end of a given month. Fewer homes available for sale may indicate a seasonal trend or market dynamics that favor a seller more than a buyer.
In strong or balanced markets, homes in San Francisco typically sell over asking. In a buyer’s market, homes will sell at list price or slightly under. If a home has had price reductions, the calculation is based on the last listed price.
Price per square foot is most useful when the homes are almost identical in size, age, layout and other factors important to buyers. Our experience suggests it is a more valuable metric in larger condo buildings and less valuable for homes in neighborhoods built with a diverse selection of styles, sizes, and ages.
Hayes Valley is a neighborhood in central San Francisco. It is bordered by Haight Ashbury and Ashbury/Buena Vista Heights to the west, Alamo Square and the Western Addition to the north, Van Ness/Civic Center to the east, and South of Market, Mission Dolores, and Duboce Triangle to the south. On an SFAR (San Francisco Association of Realtors) MLS map, Hayes Valley is identified as neighborhood 6b.
Hayes Creek once ran through this verdant landscape of wildflowers, way back when the Ohlone tribe of native people gathered food here. Today, the creek is entirely underground. Italian emigrants once developed produce farms here after the 1849 Gold Rush, and much of the area survived the catastrophic 1906 earthquake and fire.
Notable landmarks include the San Francisco Zen Center at 300 Page Street. Originally designed by architect Julia Morgan and built as a residence club in 1922 for single Jewish women, the Italianate brick structure now hosts resident Zen students and their teachers.
Nearby, the 6,900-square foot Charles Dietle House is a stick-style private residence designed by Henry Geilfuss and built in 1878, and is now a San Francisco Designated Landmark.
Hayes Valley is one of the city’s most on-trend neighborhoods, and the main shopping corridor on Hayes Street features many upscale clothing boutiques, dessert shops, watering holes, and restaurants. The revitalized area is also home to a park with art installations, a children’s playground, picnic tables, and tennis and basketball courts.
Hayes Valley is a next-door neighbor to many of San Francisco’s most notable performing arts institutions, including the ballet, opera, and theater. The neighborhood makes for a convenient dinner-and-a-show destination, with lively foot traffic around performance times.
Hayes Valley enjoyed and maintains a revitalized character after the removal of the earthquake-damaged Central Freeway in the early aughts. Now home to a busting and trendy shopping district, it is now one of the more sought-after neighborhoods in San Francisco real estate.
Beautifully restored Victorians coexist with modern condos and apartments, and residents enjoy many public transit options and quick access to both downtown and a 101 entrance ramp. Nicknamed “Cerebral Valley” in the early 2020s by the local tech community, Hayes Valley is also home to many generative AI-focused communities, startups, and “hacker houses.”
As an “already built” neighborhood, Hayes Valley is not a neighborhood where you should expect to find substantial new construction projects. Smaller developers may renovate/flip existing properties, or may take advantage of recent housing laws to add additional units to already existing housing. Transit corridors and major neighborhood streets are the most likely areas for new construction buildings in already built neighborhoods with existing housing stock.
You can scroll up to see our market charts showing current neighborhood prices and other real estate trends for Hayes Valley. We update these charts dynamically as new data becomes available. Reach out to us to learn more about prices, trends, and possibilities in Hayes Valley.