Sunnyside, San Francisco Real Estate & Homes for Sale
Sunnyside is a neighborhood of small-lot houses on a street grid south of Mount Davidson in San Francisco, centered on Monterey Boulevard, under city rules through SF Planning.
Explore Sunnyside, 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 | Small-lot single-family houses, two-unit flats, 1980s–90s condos |
| Getting around | 23 Monterey; K Ingleside; 8 and 49 at City College; I-280 on southeast edge |
| Local rules | Rent Ordinance on some units; Monterey Blvd NC-1; 2026 commercial historic district |
It is subdistrict 4S in the MLS’s District 4 .
Sunnyside has the most varied housing in this part of District 4.
Sunnyside homes for sale
Sunnyside market report
A grid below the hill
Where most District 4 tracts curve around the contours, Sunnyside’s streets run in a grid. North of Monterey Boulevard the Assessor’s addresses climb along Joost, Mangels and Melrose avenues toward Miraloma Park; south of it they run along Hearst, Flood and Staples avenues. The cross streets include Gennessee, Foerster, Edna, Detroit, Congo and Baden streets and Acadia Street, with Circular Avenue at the freeway edge.
The neighbors, from the Assessor’s subdistrict outlines, are Westwood Highlands and Westwood Park to the west, Miraloma Park to the north, Glen Park to the east and Mission Terrace across Interstate 280 to the southeast. City College of San Francisco’s campus on Frida Kahlo Way lies just to the south, beside the Balboa Reservoir site, which the Assessor records in the Westwood Park subdistrict. Its Phase 1A, with infrastructure and two affordable buildings, has been under construction since November 2025, per the project site.
Monterey Boulevard: shops, a conservatory and a new historic district
Three of those storefronts now carry historic status. Planning’s California Register layer adds a Monterey Boulevard Neighborhood Commercial Historic District, with an adoption date of March 18, 2026, made up of 769, 771–773 and 775 Monterey Boulevard and a period of significance of 1925 to 1927; its description credits Samuel Heiman. The Assessor dates those three buildings to 1927, 1926 and 1925.
Farther east, the Sunnyside Conservatory at 234–258 Monterey Boulevard is City Landmark No. 78. Planning’s record describes a Queen Anne building from 1891, designated in 1975.
Small lots and a wider mix of housing
Sunnyside’s houses sit on tighter lots than anywhere else in the district, and the neighborhood has more types of housing than its residence-park neighbors:
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.
A 2,500-square-foot lot has the area of a 25-by-100-foot lot, a common San Francisco size, so additions tend to go up or back rather than out.
Zoning on the grid and the boulevard
Planning’s current map, re-edited when the Family Zoning Plan took effect on January 12, 2026, puts the residential points we checked in RH-1 under a 40//40-R-4 height district, and NC-1 (Neighborhood Commercial, Cluster) with a 40//65-R-4 height district on Monterey Boulevard.
Planning writes those corridor heights as two figures; its Family Zoning Plan page says the new maps show heights “including any bonus programs.” Ask Planning which figure applies to a specific project before pricing development potential.
The residential blocks are also inside the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District. Our SB 9 guide explains the state’s separate route.
Flats, apartments and tenancy questions
A buyer of an occupied building will ask which units are covered by the city’s Rent Ordinance, what the current rents are and whether there are any past eviction or buyout filings. Those answers also matter under the SUD, which rules out projects that would demolish a tenant-occupied unit, or three or more units that were subject to rent limits in the past five years. Our San Francisco multifamily guide and TIC guide cover the documents, and the Assessor shows four parcels in the TIC class here.
Slopes and the freeway edge
Planning’s seismic hazard layers show two kinds of mapped zone, both small. Thin earthquake-induced landslide polygons appear on the slope north of Monterey Boulevard, in the blocks around Joost and Mangels avenues between Detroit and Edna streets, with another near the eastern end. A narrow liquefaction polygon follows the Interstate 280 corridor along the southeastern edge.
Parcels we tested on Flood Avenue and Joost Avenue were outside both, but zone edges cut through blocks, so check the exact parcel. A lot in a mapped zone must be disclosed at sale; our San Francisco hazard maps page shows where to look.
Buses, BART and the freeway
The 23 Monterey takes its name from the boulevard, and its published termini are Palou Avenue and Third Street at one end and the San Francisco Zoo at Sloat Boulevard and the Great Highway at the other. Just south of the neighborhood, City College’s Unity Plaza is the terminal for the 8 Bayshore and the 49 Van Ness/Mission, according to a route list dated 2022.
The K Ingleside stops at the City College pedestrian bridge on Ocean Avenue and ends at the Balboa Park BART mezzanine, according to SFMTA. Interstate 280 runs along the southeastern edge of the neighborhood. Confirm current Muni routes with SFMTA before relying on them for a commute.
Selling a home in Sunnyside
Buyers here may compare a Sunnyside house with a similar-size house in Glen Park or Westwood Park, so the lot, the stairs and the level of finish carry a lot of weight. For two-unit buildings, the paperwork matters as much as the floor plan.
- Pull the permit history, especially for garage-level rooms and rear or vertical additions on narrow lots; if a unit was never permitted, see our unwarranted units guide.
- For flats or apartments, gather leases, rent histories and any Rent Board filings.
- Note the lot’s seismic hazard status and include any geotechnical or drainage reports.
- For a condominium, assemble the association documents listed in our San Francisco condo guide.
- Complete the city’s sale requirements, listed on our San Francisco selling requirements page.
For current 4S prices, see the market report below.
Questions people ask
Where is Sunnyside in San Francisco?
It lies south of Mount Davidson and Miraloma Park, west of Glen Park and north of City College, with Monterey Boulevard running through the middle and Interstate 280 along its southeastern edge.
What is the Sunnyside Conservatory?
An 1891 Queen Anne building at 234–258 Monterey Boulevard that the city designated Landmark No. 78 in 1975.
Are there flats and apartments in Sunnyside?
Use current listings to identify the property type you need, then verify its ownership form, legal unit count and any recorded restrictions.
Is Sunnyside a historic district?
Not as a whole. Planning lists the Sunnyside Conservatory as a landmark and, since 2026, a three-building Monterey Boulevard commercial historic district eligible for the California Register.
How big are Sunnyside lots?
Verify the particular property’s current records and dimensions; a neighborhood statistic is not a substitute for a parcel-specific answer.
Which Muni lines serve Sunnyside?
The 23 Monterey runs on Monterey Boulevard by name, and the K Ingleside, 8 Bayshore and 49 Van Ness/Mission reach City College nearby, per SFMTA and published route lists. Check SFMTA for current service.
Planning to sell a house or a two-unit building in Sunnyside? Request a home valuation and we will walk through the records buyers will ask for. The San Francisco guide covers the rest of the city.
Permits, historic review and remodels in Sunnyside
Most Sunnyside houses follow the ordinary city path: Planning checks zoning and the Family and Senior Housing Opportunity rules described above, and the Department of Building Inspection issues the permit (DBI). Two kinds of property get an extra layer.
The Monterey Boulevard storefronts. The three buildings in the new Monterey Boulevard Neighborhood Commercial Historic District are California Register resources. Under state law a resource listed in the California Register is presumed historically significant in environmental review (Public Resources Code §21084.1), so exterior changes or redevelopment of those buildings can take longer to clear Planning. Owners of a historic building can also ask Planning about a Mills Act contract, which can lower property taxes in exchange for maintenance commitments (SF Planning: historic preservation; see our Mills Act guide).
City landmarks. Work affecting an Article 10 landmark, such as the Sunnyside Conservatory, goes through the Historic Preservation Commission’s certificate-of-appropriateness process (Planning Code Article 10).
ADUs on small lots. On compact lots, Sunnyside owners usually add space by converting a garage or ground floor rather than building in the yard. Planning’s State ADU Program allows a junior ADU of up to 500 square feet within a single-family house with owner occupancy required when the JADU shares sanitation with the main residence, and its Local Program can waive some code limits (SF Planning: Accessory dwelling units).
Costs to plan for when buying in Sunnyside
Transfer tax. San Francisco applies one rate to the whole price: $3.40 per $500 from just over $250,000 to under $1 million, and $3.75 per $500 from $1 million to under $5 million (sf.gov: Transfer tax). Our San Francisco transfer tax guide has the details.
Property tax. Plan on 1% of assessed value plus voter-approved rates (BOE Publication 29) and a reassessable ownership change may produce a supplemental bill or refund (sf.gov). Owner-occupants should file the homeowners’ exemption (claim form); see our San Francisco property tax guide.
Condos on the boulevard. The 1980s and 1990s condominium buildings at 780, 781–787 and 798 Monterey are association-run buildings. Read the budget and reserve study closely; in a building with few units, a roof or envelope project is split among few owners (condo guide).
Luxury homes and estates in Sunnyside
Sunnyside has no large-lot or estate zoning: the residential blocks are almost entirely RH-1 on small lots, with RH-2, RM-1 and the NC-1 boulevard frontage. Its higher-end homes are therefore the larger, remodeled houses rather than a separate class of property, often on the upslope streets north of Monterey Boulevard, such as Joost, Mangels and Melrose avenues, that climb toward Miraloma Park. Buyers weighing a bigger house often compare it with Miraloma Park and Westwood Highlands.
For a substantial purchase here, the due diligence that matters most is the permit history behind any second story or lower-level living space (a one-story record on a two-story house is a red flag to resolve), the thin landslide polygons mapped on the slope north of the boulevard, and drainage on uphill lots. Price earthquake coverage early (earthquake insurance guide) and see insuring a high-value home in California.
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: how we find off-market deals. Our San Francisco luxury homes page explains how we market higher-end homes. Within Sunnyside itself, the 1891 Sunnyside Conservatory on Monterey Boulevard, a city landmark, is the neighborhood’s best-known historic setting.
Sunnyside real estate: questions people ask
Where can I find Sunnyside homes for sale?
Current Sunnyside homes for sale appear in the listings at the top of this page, from MLS subdistrict 4S of District 4. Because lots are small and two-unit flats are common, search both single-family and two-unit listings.
Is Sunnyside part of Glen Park?
No. They are separate MLS subdistricts: Sunnyside is 4S and Glen Park lies to its east. Both are governed by the City and County of San Francisco.
Do the Monterey Boulevard buildings have historic restrictions?
Three storefront buildings, at 769, 771–773 and 775 Monterey, form a California Register historic district adopted in 2026. Changes to them can draw historic review; other buildings on the boulevard are not part of that district.
Does Sunnyside have its own transfer tax?
No. Sunnyside sales pay San Francisco’s citywide tiered transfer tax, due when the deed is recorded (sf.gov).
Historic review depends on the designating ordinance and scope of work. Ordinary in-kind maintenance/repair can be exempt from a Certificate of Appropriateness, and some minor work has an administrative review path.
Assessment records are a starting point for checking a property, not a certification of legal use or a live listing inventory. Verify current permits, recorded ownership documents and any affordability restrictions.
Sources for this section
- City and County of San Francisco, Department of Building Inspection: https://www.sf.gov/departments–department-building-inspection
- California Public Resources Code §21084.1: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PRC§ionNum=21084.1
- San Francisco Planning, Mills Act and historic designation: https://sfplanning.org/historic-preservation-faqs
- San Francisco Planning Code, Article 10: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/san_francisco/latest/sf_planning/0-0-0-27871
- San Francisco Planning, Accessory dwelling units: https://sfplanning.org/accessory-dwelling-units
- City and County of San Francisco, Transfer tax: https://www.sf.gov/transfer-tax
- California State Board of Equalization, Publication 29: https://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/pub29.pdf
- City and County of San Francisco, Learn about supplemental assessments: https://www.sf.gov/information–learn-about-supplemental-assessments
- SF Assessor-Recorder, Homeowners’ exemption claim form: https://www.sfassessor.org/forms-notices/forms/homeowners%E2%80%99-exemption-claim-form-english-version
Sources & notes
- DataSF / SF Assessor-Recorder: Assessor Historical Secured Property Tax Rolls, 2025 closed roll (parcel counts by class, build years, stories, median lot and building area, zoning codes, street and block listings and subdistrict extents for 4A, 4E, 4H, 4P, 4R and 4S; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: PlanningData map service (zoning, height and special use districts, landmarks, California Register historic districts, seismic hazard zones, FEMA flood zones, supervisor districts; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 249.94, Family and Senior Housing Opportunity Special Use District
- San Francisco Planning: SF Family Zoning Plan
- SFMTA: K Ingleside route page
- Wikipedia: List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines (route names and termini; page states service as of July 2022)
- Balboa Reservoir project site: Balboa Reservoir (Phase 1A construction status)
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
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