Marin Real Estate (January 2009)

Marin County, California real estate has slowed. While largely a function of the season (Winter is generally slow), macro-economic considerations, and more stringent borrowing guidelines, I feel that the primary source of the current slowdown relates to a perception by home buyers that “now” is not a good time to buy. Nonetheless, interest rates are at ALL-TIME LOWS (the San Francisco Chronicle’s Real Estate section has noted these records lows each of the past four weeks), prices in many Marin communities and neighborhoods are well off their peaks, and there is a wide variety of home choices out there. As evidenced by the investor actvity of the past few months, “now” does have some momentum.

Inventory is down to 503 single family homes for sale (we had about 716 last month) in the Highway 101 corridor (this number excludes Western Marin inventory). 

[Click HERE for the rest of this market report, courtesy of www.NorthBayRE.com.]

San Rafael Real Estate Update (December 2008)

The San Rafael real estate market has been the model of consistency this year–up until last month. Although 29% of homes are currently in escrow in the low end (under $800,000), the rest of the market is at a standstill. In the $800,000 to $1 million range, we have 14% of homes in escrow. And when it comes to the higher end of the spectrum, the market is virtually flat-lining with just one home in escrow over $1 million. Nobody can recall a time where the market has exhibited such an utter lack of vitality. 

There are currently 20 houses on the market under $600,000, and another 25 under $750,000. As reported the past few months, it is apparent to me that buyers seem unimpressed with our San Rafael housing inventory and that these buyers are exploring Novato. Click HERE for my this month’s market report provided by www.Novato101.com. Perhaps this is in part due to the fact our San Rafael inventory is very low–just 141 units are currently on the market. I do expect a large uptick in listings come the new year as sellers who decided to sit out this past year begin testing the market early and buyers begin to take advantage of the ever-lower interest rates, which some predict may go down as far as 4%.  

Of the 19 homes that sold in November 2008 (26 sold in October), the average days on market was 123 days. These homes averaged about 2,159 square feet and sold for an average price of about $954,000–roughly $434 per sq. ft. San Rafael’s strongest micro-climate markets in November 2008 included Terra Linda, Peacock Gap, and Lucas Valley. For those of you who missed it last month, check out the October 2008 edition of Architectural Digest for some sublime examples of modern architecture, including an amazing prefab green home built by Marmol Radziner in the Utah desert.

 If you have any questions regarding the current real estate market in San Rafael, California, please contact Kyle Frazier, Marin Realtor & CRS, Frank Howard Allen Realtors Marin: (415) 350-9440.

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