January 2007 Newsletter

MARIN HOME SALES STATISTICS

2006 Year in Review
After a year of media headlines shouting “The Bubble is about to burst”, “Home prices being slashed,” and so on, I was surprised to discover that as 2006 has come to a close the Median Marin home price WENT UP in 2006. (Not a lot, but it did go up a very small amount (down slightly for single family homes and up slightly for condos). These are just my informal statistics, pulling data from our local MLS system (BAREIS). But I showed that in 2005, the Median home price (including Condos and Single Family Residences) was $850,000 and for 2006 it is $864,000.

I created charts for 2006 showing the average and median Marin home prices with Condos broken out from Single Family Residences. To view these charts, go to: 2006 Marin Home Sales and click on the charts titled: Marin County Average and Median Home Prices. Additionally, I’ve included link to additional charts with average home prices broken down by city and by month. There is a lot of good data here for you to review in your spare time!

Now that 2007 is here, I was surprised to see a lot of Marin Real Estate activity already. I had some clients put an offer in on a well priced $1,000,000 home this week, and we competed against 8 offers!! Yes 8 offers! As I’ve always mentioned, there seems to be a continued shortage of well-priced homes in Marin, especially in areas like Mill Valley that has so much to offer. Additionally, at an open house I held open this last weekend, I had over 25 groups of buyers through to view the $1.4 Million dollar property.

Monthly Stats
These statistics show how many homes are available for sale in Marin, and of those how many are currently in contract (either pending or contingent. For the 4th month in a row, the Marin overall real estate market is in a “Buyers Market.”

There are 110 more Marin homes for sale this January (720) then there were in January 2006 (611). The percentage of homes in contract went down slightly as compared to last month, but is considerably higher than 12 months ago, (when only 19% of available Marin homes were in contract). My feeling is that many of the homes that did not sell have been pulled from the market, anticipating the slower months during the holiday season, or to possibly restart the Days on Market clock for that house trying to regenerate interest.

I believe that the market is going to start heating up. I’m basing this on the fact that in just these first few weeks of the year, I’ve received a lot of phone calls from interested buyers on listings, and I held a $1.5 Million dollar home in San Rafael yesterday and I saw no less than 28 parties come trough to view the home. I think because interest rates have stabilized and the talk of the housing bubble has cooled down a bit that there is some pent up demand for homes (at least in Marin County). Again, this is just my $.02. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Although the overall Marin Real Estate market is in a “Buyers” market, where almost 24% of all listed homes are in contract, there are some interesting facts to note: Greenbrae and Kentfield are both in a Sellers Market this month, and homes priced from $2,000,000 to $2,500,000 are in a Balanced Market!

And for those of you who do read these stats, I’d love to know that you find the information useful! It actually takes me quite a lot of time to track, compile and post the data each month – and I’d love to know that it is being utilized! Send me an email to let me know you like getting it!

To view this months stats go to:
January Marin Home Sales

I’m always searching for ways to bring my clients and readers more local real estate statistics. I’m pleased to announce the launch of my new Marin home Sales Statistics page. To view, go to: Marin Home Sales Stats.

If you know of anyone who would like to receive this monthly newsletter or is thinking of either buying or selling a home please let me know. I’d love your referrals!

FAST FACTS

Marin median home price– 1/1/06 – 12/31/06: $864,000 [Source: BAREIS]
Marin average home price- 1/1/06 – 12/31/06: $1,089,129 [Source: BAREIS]
Marin median SFR home price – 1/1/06 – 12/31/06: $$956,000 [Source: BAREIS]
Marin median condo price – 1/1/06 – 12/31/06: $$548,000 [Source: BAREIS]
Calif. median home price –November 06: $555,290) (October 06 $548,680) [Source: C.A.R.]
Calif. highest median home price Nov 06: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,083,000 [Source: C.A.R.]
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region Nov 06: High Desert $332,340 [Source: C.A.R.]
Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Third Quarter 06: 24 percent [Source: C.A.R.]

Mortgage rates - week ending 1/11/07: (Source: Freddie Mac)
· 30-yr. fixed: 6.21%; Fees/points: 0.4%
· 15-yr. fixed: 5.96%; Fees/points: 0.4%
· 1-yr. adjustable: 5.42%; Fees/points: 0.6%

FREE…..You can search for Marin listings directly on BayAreaRealEstateSales.com: Search for Homes

Be sure to check out all the other great content & features of my website:
www.BayAreaRealEstateSales.com