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Lake Shore, San Francisco: Homes, Lake Merced & Real Estate Guide

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Lake Shore is the southwest corner of San Francisco’s MLS District 3: a neighborhood of mostly postwar detached houses between Sloat Boulevard and the north end of Lake Merced, plus the condominiums on Lake Merced Hill and the golf, park and institutional land around the lake. It is subdistrict 3A of District 3, and with 1,382 parcels on the Assessor’s 2025 roll, spread from Sloat Boulevard south past Lake Merced, it takes in more ground than any other District 3 subdistrict.

For a buyer, Lake Shore is really three different markets under one code: about 1,140 single-family houses, about 200 condominium units, and a handful of large parcels that are not housing at all.

Lake Shore homes for sale

Lake Shore market report

Three parts of one subdistrict

Part	Where	What the 2025 roll shows
The house blocks	South of Sloat Boulevard, from about 26th Avenue west to Lakeshore Drive and Berkshire Way, north of the lake	1,139 single-family parcels and a small shopping center
Lake Merced Hill	South of Brotherhood Way, on the Lake Merced Hill street	All 200 of the subdistrict’s condominium parcels
Lake, golf and institutions	Around Lake Merced, along Skyline Boulevard, John Muir Drive, Brotherhood Way and Thomas More Way	Eight golf-course parcels, public land, church and school parcels, one large apartment property

Neighbors are Pine Lake Park across Sloat, Merced Manor to the east beyond 26th Avenue, and Stonestown to the southeast, which on the Assessor’s map includes Parkmerced. The Outer Parkside lies northwest across Sloat in District 2.

The houses south of Sloat

This is a postwar neighborhood. The median recorded build year for Lake Shore’s single-family parcels is 1950, later than any other District 3 subdistrict except Stonestown, and 808 of the 1,139, about 71 percent, were built in 1946 or later. None carries a pre-1930 date. The median lot is 3,136 square feet and the median recorded building area is 1,692 square feet.

The zoning splits the house blocks in two:

RH-1(D), one-family detached: the western and central streets, including Country Club Drive (the longest, about 150 parcels), Lakeshore Drive, Morningside, Gellert, Clearfield, Springfield, Everglade, Huntington, Westmoorland and Havenside drives, and Berkshire Way.
RH-1, one-family but not limited to detached houses: the eastern blocks of Meadowbrook, Forest View and Inverness drives and parts of Riverton, Middlefield and Sylvan drives, toward 26th Avenue.

Ocean Avenue and Eucalyptus Drive run east-west through the blocks. The shopping center between Sloat and Ocean, at 1501 and 1595 Sloat Boulevard, is zoned NC-S, Neighborhood Commercial Shopping Center.

Lake Merced Hill condominiums

Every condominium parcel in Lake Shore, 200 on the 2025 roll, is on Lake Merced Hill, a separate enclave on the south side of Brotherhood Way. Some of its parcel records carry unit suffixes, so count units from the condominium plan rather than from street numbers.

For a condominium here, the documents matter more than the map: the HOA budget and reserve study, recent minutes, any special assessments and insurance coverage. Our San Francisco condo guide covers what to request.

The hill also sits inside the Coastal Zone on Planning’s map, which the house blocks largely do not. A point check on the hill found no mapped liquefaction or landslide zone, but small landslide polygons appear near its northern and southern edges.

Lake Merced, golf courses and the Brotherhood Way corridor

Much of the subdistrict’s area is not residential. Wikipedia describes Lake Merced Park as 614 acres in the southwest corner of the city, fed by an underground spring, with three golf courses nearby: the Olympic Club, San Francisco Golf Club and TPC Harding Park. The same article lists Fort Funston, the city’s National Guard armory, an SFPD shooting range and Lakeshore Alternative Elementary School among its neighbors.

The Assessor’s roll reflects those uses as parcels:

Eight parcels classed as golf course, on Skyline Boulevard, John Muir Drive and Thomas More Way.
Church parcels on Brotherhood Way and Junipero Serra Boulevard, and school parcels on Thomas More Way and Junipero Serra.
One apartment property of 15 or more units at 501 to 695 John Muir Drive, zoned RM-2.
Public parcels on the Great Highway, Skyline Boulevard, Armory Drive and Olympic Country Club Road.

These large holdings define the neighborhood’s edges and are not part of the housing market.

Zoning since January 2026

The Assessor’s zoning field shows 783 parcels in RH-1(D), 573 in RH-1 and the rest public, NC-S or unzoned. Planning’s current map adds a change from the Family Zoning Plan, which took effect January 12, 2026: RTO-C (Residential Transit Oriented – Commercial) now runs along the Sloat Boulevard frontages and along Eucalyptus Drive on the eastern blocks toward 26th Avenue.

A point check on Lakeshore Drive also found the area inside the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District (Planning Code section 249.94), which can permit up to four units on an eligible lot. Inside the Coastal Zone, Planning says the plan’s code and map amendments go to the California Coastal Commission for certification as Local Coastal Program amendments, so timing can differ there. Read our SB 9 guide for the state route to a second unit.

The Coastal Zone, liquefaction and the bluff

Planning’s Coastal Zone boundary wraps Lake Merced and its parkland and runs close to the western and southern edges of the house blocks; a point at the Lakeshore Drive edge near Berkshire Way was just outside it. Under Planning Code section 330.1, private demolition, construction and changes of use within the boundary need a Coastal Zone Permit unless specifically exempt, in addition to other permits. Lots at the edge deserve a parcel-level check.

The seismic layers vary across the neighborhood:

Liquefaction: the same point on the Lakeshore Drive edge is inside a mapped liquefaction zone, part of the zone that follows the coast and the lake margins. The shopping center site in the middle of the neighborhood is outside it.
Landslide: small mapped polygons line the slope near the southern ends of streets such as Gellert, Morningside, Clearfield and Lakeshore drives, where the ground drops toward the lake.

Either mapping must be disclosed at sale. Read the guide to the Natural Hazard Disclosure report, then look the lot up using our San Francisco hazard map instructions.

Sloat Boulevard, the Great Highway and transit

The Great Highway south of Sloat is changing. The SFPUC’s Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project would permanently close it to public vehicles between Sloat and Skyline boulevards, build a buried wall to protect wastewater and recycled-water facilities, and add more than a mile of seaside trail. Its fact sheet puts construction at late 2027 to early 2031, subject to change, and says SFMTA is planning further changes at the Sloat and Skyline intersection and along Sloat Boulevard.

Per published route lists, the 23 Monterey ends at the Zoo at Sloat and the Great Highway, the 57 Parkmerced runs from West Portal station to Daly City station, and the 58 Lake Merced starts at Stonestown Galleria. The M Ocean View’s Stonestown and SF State stations are on 19th Avenue, east of the neighborhood. The bus list we used is dated 2022, so confirm current routes with SFMTA.

Selling a home in Lake Shore

A Lake Shore house is best priced against other Lake Shore sales on the same side of the RH-1 and RH-1(D) line, then against Merced Manor and Pine Lake Park. Postwar construction means fewer of the original-system questions of 1920s houses, but more questions about later additions and garage-level rooms.

Match the permit history to every room, bathroom and deck, and order the 3R report early.
For lots on the lake side, have the hazard disclosure, any geotechnical reports and the Coastal Zone status ready.
For a Lake Merced Hill condominium, gather the HOA documents before listing.
Check the city’s sale requirements in our San Francisco selling requirements guide.

The market report on this page has current subdistrict figures, and our San Francisco selling guide covers preparation and pricing.

Questions people ask

Is Lake Shore the same as Lakeside?

No. Lake Shore (3A) is west of 26th Avenue toward Lake Merced; Lakeside (3E) is the strip between 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra Boulevard. Both are in MLS District 3.

Are there condos in Lake Shore?

Yes, about 200 condominium units, all on Lake Merced Hill south of Brotherhood Way. The rest of the housing is single-family houses.

Is Lake Shore in the Coastal Zone?

Lake Merced Hill and the lake’s parkland are. The boundary runs close to the western and southern edges of the house blocks, so a lot at the edge needs a parcel check.

Is the Great Highway south of Sloat closing?

Under the SFPUC’s plan, yes: the road between Sloat and Skyline would close to public vehicles permanently, and construction is expected from late 2027 to early 2031, subject to change.

How old are Lake Shore houses?

Mostly postwar: the median recorded build year is 1950, and about 71 percent were built in 1946 or later.

What is around Lake Merced besides houses?

Golf courses (the roll shows eight golf-course parcels; Wikipedia names the Olympic Club, San Francisco Golf Club and TPC Harding Park), city parkland, the National Guard armory, church and school campuses on Brotherhood Way, and Fort Funston toward the ocean.

Pricing a Lake Shore house or a Lake Merced Hill condo? Request a home valuation and we will measure it against sales on the same side of the zoning line, or browse more of San Francisco.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.