Open Houses Will NOT Resume Next Week

The majority of activities and businesses that were slated to either reopen or be allowed to expand their capacities next week in San Francisco^[1] have just been “paused” due to an increase in local COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations. That includes the previously expected re-openings of indoor pools, bowling alleys and fitness center locker rooms, along with an increase in the allowed capacities for indoor dining establishments, movie theaters, places of worship and museums.

But according to the Office of the Mayor, real estate showings and open houses, which had been curtailed, will be allowed to resume as of Tuesday, November 3, “with social distancing protocols in place.”

UPDATE: While the official update from the Mayor’s Office^[2] and Reopening San Francisco timeline^[3] both still indicate that in-person real estate showings and open houses will be allowed to resume next week, according to the plugged-in President of the San Francisco Association of Realtors^[4], that’s incorrect. We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

UPDATE: While the Mayor’s Office hasn’t issued a correction, and the City’s official timeline for Reopening still shows that Real estate open houses will be allowed to resume on the 3rd, the reference to ‘open houses’ has just been quietly scrubbed from the Mayor’s online press release but an allowance for “increased real estate showings with social distancing protocols in place” remains (for now).

UPDATE (11/1): The City’s official timeline for Reopening San Francisco has finally been updated to remove ‘open houses’ from the list of activities that will be allowed to resume on November 3 without a new target date or goal.

UPDATE (11/4): The “only when a virtual viewing is not feasible” clause for real estate showings has been dropped but the “by appointment” clause remains.