Merced Heights, San Francisco Real Estate & Homes for Sale
Almost every lot is zoned RH-1, and the whole area sits in a special use district that sends very large houses to a public hearing.
Explore Merced Heights, San Francisco real estate and homes for sale with this local guide. Contact Diamond to discuss your criteria and current property-search options.
| County | San Francisco (City and County) |
|---|---|
| Local government | City and County of San Francisco — SF Planning |
| Housing | Single-family houses on a street grid; nearly all lots RH-1 |
| Hazards to check | Points checked in FEMA Zone X, outside mapped flood hazard areas |
| Getting around | 29 Sunset through the area; M Ocean View and K Ingleside nearby; Balboa Park BART |
| Local rules | Special use district: very large houses need a public hearing |
Outside the MLS the name is used more loosely. Wikipedia’s Merced Heights article, for example, runs the neighborhood south to Brotherhood Way, which takes in the hill blocks below Shields Street, and the area is often grouped with Oceanview and Ingleside as “OMI”. On the MLS those southern blocks are Ingleside Heights, so check the subdistrict code on any listing or comparable sale before you compare prices.
Merced Heights homes for sale
Merced Heights market report
Two blocks deep, a dozen streets across
The subdistrict is a band only about a quarter mile from north to south. Holloway Avenue forms the top edge, with Ingleside Terrace on the other side; Garfield Street runs through the middle; Shields Street is the bottom edge.
The north-south streets, west to east, are Beverly, Monticello, Byxbee, Ralston, Vernon, Arch, Ramsell, Victoria, Bright and Head streets and Orizaba Avenue, with a short run of Ashton Avenue at the east end. Each north-south street carries roughly 70 to 80 addresses inside the subdistrict, which gives the area its even, repeating blocks.
- West: Junipero Serra Boulevard and 19th Avenue, with San Francisco State and Lakeside beyond.
- East: Orizaba and Ashton avenues, where Ingleside begins.
- South: Shields Street and the slopes of Ingleside Heights.
There is no commercial zoning inside 3B. The nearest shops are on Randolph Street and 19th Avenue to the south, on Holloway Avenue to the east and on Ocean Avenue to the north.
Houses from three building waves
Compare the particular property’s lot dimensions, permitted living area, construction history and ownership form using current records. Assessment classifications do not certify legal use or current listing availability.
Because the stock spans three eras on the same streets, a 1920s house can stand next to a postwar one. Compare foundation type, the age of electrical and plumbing systems and the legal status of any ground-floor rooms rather than relying on the decade alone.
Apart from the houses, the roll shows two flats or duplexes, one small apartment building, two dwellings with an extra unit, a church parcel, a public parcel and a handful of vacant lots. There are no condominiums.
The Oceanview Large Residence rule
Merced Heights falls inside the Oceanview Large Residence Special Use District, Planning Code section 249.3, added by ordinance in 2019. The district covers the RH-1 and RH-2 blocks inside a perimeter of Interstate 280, Orizaba Avenue, Brotherhood Way, Junipero Serra Boulevard, Holloway Avenue, Ashton Avenue, Ocean Avenue and Geneva Avenue.
Inside it, a residential project needs Conditional Use authorization, which means a Planning Commission hearing, if it would create any of the following:
- a dwelling unit with five or more bedrooms;
- a multi-unit project in which the smallest unit is less than a third of the largest unit’s floor area;
- a floor area ratio above the code’s table, which for an RH-1 lot is 1:1 for one unit and 1.15:1 for one unit with an ADU (the ADU’s own area is not counted).
On a 2,500-square-foot lot, a 1:1 ratio works out to about 2,500 square feet of floor area before a hearing is required. Owners planning a large addition, or buyers paying for expansion potential, should ask Planning how the ratio is measured for their lot. ADU projects are covered in our guide to buying a home with an ADU.
Planning’s map also places the area in the Priority Equity Geographies Special Use District (section 249.97, effective January 14, 2024), whose controls sit in the code’s permit-notification and residential-demolition sections, 311 and 317. At the points we checked here, the map did not show the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity district that covers many western house tracts; confirm the controls for a specific lot with Planning.
Ground conditions on the maps
None of the state’s mapped liquefaction polygons falls inside the Merced Heights band on Planning’s seismic hazard layer. The nearest one, the band that crosses Ingleside Terrace, stays north of Holloway Avenue, and another follows Brotherhood Way well to the south.
The earthquake-induced landslide layer shows only a very small polygon just east of Orizaba Avenue, on the Ingleside side of the line. FEMA’s flood map, as carried on Planning’s service, puts the points we checked in Zone X (unshaded), outside the mapped flood hazard areas.
The disclosure report for the specific house still governs. See our San Francisco hazard maps page for how to check a parcel yourself.
Muni on three sides
The 29 Sunset is the line that runs through the neighborhood. SFMTA’s route page shows it coming from 19th Avenue along Holloway, turning down Beverly Street and running east on Garfield Street with stops at Byxbee, Vernon, Victoria and Bright, then continuing by Grafton and Plymouth avenues to Ocean Avenue and Balboa Park BART. It runs from about 5 a.m. to midnight.
The M Ocean View skirts the southwest corner: Wikipedia’s stop table assigns its stop at 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra (19th Avenue and Randolph outbound) to Merced Heights, and the line then runs along Randolph Street a few blocks south, with stops at Arch and Bright. Its San Francisco State station on Holloway Avenue, at 19th Avenue, also serves the 28 and 28R buses. The K Ingleside runs on Ocean Avenue, north of Ingleside Terrace.
For drivers, Junipero Serra Boulevard and 19th Avenue lead south toward Daly City and Interstate 280.
Selling a home in Merced Heights
Buyers here usually compare houses on lot size, finished space and condition more than on the street itself, since the blocks are so similar. The closest comparable sales are within 3B, then Ingleside Heights and Ingleside next door.
- Reconcile the space. Houses of this type often have bedrooms, baths or family rooms added at garage level. Match them to permits and the 3R report, and see our page on unwarranted units if there is a separate unit downstairs.
- Document the era. For a pre-1930 house, have foundation and sewer lateral information ready; for a postwar house, list the system updates and their permits.
- Explain the SUD. If buyers are paying for an addition, the floor-area limit and the five-bedroom trigger belong in the disclosure package, with a pointer to section 249.3.
- Check the citywide rules. Our San Francisco selling requirements guide covers the 3R report, energy rules and transfer tax.
The market report on this page shows current figures for subdistrict 3B.
Questions people ask
Where is Merced Heights in San Francisco?
On the MLS and Assessor maps it is the band of blocks between Holloway Avenue and Shields Street, from Junipero Serra Boulevard and Beverly Street east to Orizaba and Ashton avenues. The streets south of Shields, which some general references such as Wikipedia include in Merced Heights, are subdistrict 3G, Ingleside Heights.
Is Merced Heights part of OMI?
Yes, informally. OMI is a common shorthand for Oceanview, Merced Heights and Ingleside; it is not an MLS subdistrict, so listings use 3B, 3G, 3H and 3J.
Can I build a large addition on a Merced Heights house?
Possibly, but the Oceanview Large Residence Special Use District requires a Planning Commission hearing for projects with a five-bedroom unit or with floor area above 1:1 on an RH-1 lot (1.15:1 with an ADU). Ask Planning how the limit applies to your lot.
Are there condos in Merced Heights?
Use current listings to identify the property type you need, then verify its ownership form, legal unit count and any recorded restrictions.
Which Muni lines serve Merced Heights?
The 29 Sunset runs along Holloway, Beverly and Garfield. The M Ocean View stops at 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra and along Randolph Street just to the south, and its SF State station on Holloway also serves the 28 and 28R.
Is Merced Heights in a liquefaction zone?
Not on Planning’s copy of the state seismic hazard map; the nearest mapped liquefaction band runs north of Holloway Avenue. Check the disclosure report for the specific house.
Comparing a Merced Heights house with others in OMI, or getting one ready for market? Request a home valuation built on recent 3B sales, or read our San Francisco home selling guide and the citywide San Francisco neighborhood guide.
Costs to plan for when buying in Merced Heights
For a detached Merced Heights house, verify any association or shared-maintenance obligation from the title and seller disclosures. The costs to plan for are the City’s taxes and the work an older house needs.
Transfer tax. San Francisco charges $3.40 per $500 above $250,000 and below $1 million, and $3.75 per $500 from $1 million to under $5 million, at recording. The deed is filed with a Transfer Tax Affidavit and a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (SF.gov: Transfer tax). See San Francisco transfer tax.
Property tax. After closing, the Assessor reassesses the home and supplemental bills follow (SF.gov: supplemental assessments); our guide to supplemental tax bills explains the timing. Each annual bill adds school and City College parcel taxes, some with a senior exemption (Treasurer: parcel taxes and special assessments). If you live in the house, file the homeowners’ exemption (Assessor claim form). See San Francisco property tax.
Condition. For an older home, budget by era: foundation and sewer lateral for the oldest houses, system updates for the rest.
Garage-level rooms, ADUs and legal units in Merced Heights
Many houses here have bedrooms, baths or family rooms built at garage level. Before you pay for that space, compare it with the 3R report, which the seller must provide and which shows the authorized use and permits on file (SF.gov: 3R report).
If the space was built without permits, SF Planning says many unauthorized units can be legalized through the State or Local ADU program if all requirements are met, or through its separate Legalization Program (SF Planning: ADUs). For a new unit on a single-family lot:
- the State Program allows converted, attached, detached and junior ADUs, with ministerial review in 60 days from a complete application and no Section 311 notice or discretionary review;
- the Local Program allows one ADU plus one detached ADU on a lot with four or fewer legal units, can waive some Planning Code rules, and puts the ADU under rent control. Review periods apply to qualifying complete applications and the applicable state pathway, with statutory exceptions; they do not guarantee that a proposed unit is feasible or that a building permit will be issued. Confirm the current requirements with the permit agency and HCD.
Past evictions don’t preclude a State Program ADU, while the Local Program is closed for five years after an owner move-in eviction. The two can’t be combined. See buying a home with an ADU and unwarranted units.
Renting out a house in Merced Heights
If you buy a house to rent, or buy one with a tenant in it, the City’s rules depend on the property type and the tenancy date. Most single-family homes rented to a tenant who moved in on or after January 1, 1996 have just-cause eviction protection but not rent increase limits, under the state Costa-Hawkins law. A house with a second unit, or a tenancy that began earlier, can be treated differently (SF.gov: rental laws). See buying tenant-occupied property.
Luxury homes and estates in Merced Heights
Merced Heights is a neighborhood of houses on lots of about 2,500 square feet, so high-end property here means the larger or fully rebuilt houses rather than estates. Expansion is capped in practice by the Oceanview Large Residence SUD described above, which sends a five-bedroom unit, or floor area above 1:1 on an RH-1 lot, to a Planning Commission hearing (Planning Code §249.3, third-party reproduction). A buyer paying for a large addition should confirm it was approved under those rules. Buyers looking for larger lots usually compare Ingleside Terrace, Balboa Terrace and St. Francis Wood.
The due diligence that matters most on a rebuilt house: permits and final inspections for the addition, the 3R report against the floor plan, structural plans for any added story, and insurance quotes for a house of mixed age (insuring a high-value home, earthquake insurance). Check the parcel’s zoning and permit history on the Property Information Map. The City’s transfer tax rate also steps up at $1 million, from $3.40 to $3.75 per $500 (SF.gov: Transfer tax).
Ask Diamond Real Estate Group which permitted private-marketing options fit your property, goals and the applicable MLS rules. Availability of any particular listing is not guaranteed. Related reading: private sales. We do not promise that any particular property is available.
For a taxable transfer, the applicable tier’s rate is charged on each$500 or fractional part of the taxable consideration/value; exemptions and special rules can affect the result. Confirm the calculation with escrow.
For a Large Residence SUD project, confirm the mapped boundary, application-date exceptions and the code’s floor-area calculation before relying on a summary. Qualifying state-law housing paths require their own eligibility review.
Sources for this section
- SF.gov: Transfer tax — https://www.sf.gov/transfer-tax
- SF.gov: Learn about supplemental assessments — https://www.sf.gov/information–learn-about-supplemental-assessments
- SF Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector: Parcel tax exemptions and special assessments — https://sftreasurer.org/property/parcel-tax-exemptions-and-special-assessments
- SF Assessor-Recorder: Homeowners’ exemption claim form — https://www.sfassessor.org/forms-notices/forms/homeowners%E2%80%99-exemption-claim-form-english-version
- SF.gov: Request a Report of Residential Building Record (3R) — https://www.sf.gov/request3r
- SF Planning: Accessory Dwelling Units — https://sfplanning.org/accessory-dwelling-units
- SF.gov: Learn about San Francisco rental laws — https://sf.gov/learn-about-san-francisco-rental-laws
- SF Planning Code §249.3, Oceanview Large Residence SUD (gocodebook reproduction) — https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/san_francisco/latest/sf_planning/0-0-0-61744
- SF Planning: Property Information Map — https://sfplanninggis.org/pim/
Sources & notes
- DataSF (Office of the Assessor-Recorder): Assessor Historical Secured Property Tax Rolls, 2025 closed roll (parcel counts by class, build years, stories, zoning codes, street listings and subdistrict extents; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: PlanningData map service (zoning, height and special use districts, seismic hazard liquefaction and landslide layers, FEMA flood layer; point and envelope queries, October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 249.3, Oceanview Large Residence Special Use District
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 249.97, Priority Equity Geographies Special Use District
- SFMTA: 29 Sunset route page (streets and stops)
- Wikipedia: M Ocean View (route, stops, station details, planned projects)
- SFMTA: K Ingleside route page (routing, stops, hours)
- Wikipedia: Merced Heights, San Francisco (general-reference boundaries)
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
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