Hello Everyone,
Welcome back from the Labor Day holiday. I hope that everyone enjoyed the wonderful weather and the extra time off!
Every year at this time, the housing market here in Marin County takes a little time off too, as buyers, sellers, and agents concentrate on a little leisure/travel time and/or getting ready for back to school. That is why I said last week that it is unfair to try to characterize the market at this time. The normal seasonal effects are inextricably linked with whatever effect we may or may not be getting from the financial fallout of the "mortgage meltdown" we have heard so much about. The truth is, there are still solid lenders out there who are eager to lend to qualified buyers. The application/qualification criteria have been tightened, so a bit of extra documentation may be required, and the process may take a few days longer. The key is to be sure that the broker/lender are top-of-the-line and will see the process through to a successful conclusion. Your experienced professional real estate agent can offer you some great options----be sure to use this valuable resource.
Single Family Residence inventory is down again, from 886 to 879, with all price points showing as "buyers'" markets on a county-wide basis. Certain pockets of strength continue to defy this statistic as we will se in the city-by-city report. And we finally went into negative territory on the 2006-2007 units sold comparison at minus 1.9% from a year ago. Still, the average listing and sales prices slightly ahead of the same time last year, though days on market are up a bit.
Condominium inventory also down for the week, from 312 to 293. All price points either buyers' or strong buyers' markets. This market did show some strength during the period, with 13 units sold vs. only 7 in 2006. As with SFR's, condo's still listing and selling above last year's prices, though unit volume YTD is down some 14.4%.
City-By-City Report showing everywhere except Belvedere with a decline in the percentage in contract figure. Belvedere a very small sample size with just a couple of units making a substantial difference in the figures. Corte Madera the queen of the county in terms of real estate, and still a strong sellers' market at 37.5% in contract, though that figure is down from 44.8% the week prior. Mill Valley and San Anselmo also members of the defiant royal family and still sellers' markets, at 26.7 and 26.4 percent, respectively. San Rafael losing a little ground but hanging tough at 19.07 % in contract. Novato trended down again, and sits at just 11.9% in contract, a strong buyers' market, and a tremendous opportunity for buyers who may have formerly been priced out of the Marin real estate market. Will waiting longer mean a better price? Hard to say, but it is difficult to call the bottom of any market, and prices are very attractive now.
So, what does this all mean?
Marin County always has been, and will continue to be a wonderful place to live.
The weather is great, the schools are excellent, the scenery is gorgeous, and San Francisco is just a few minutes away. Existing homes do not have a lot of sales competition from new construction in most of the County because there is not much buildable land available. And, over time, Marin County real estate has always been a good investment. The next few weeks should give a good indication of which direction the fall market season is likely to take. In the meantime, people will still be attracted to Marin County for all the reasons above, and many more, and they will need places to live!!
more next week-----
Until then, best wishes to all,
Fred
p.s. for access to spreadsheets and tables, please visit http://www.fredanlyan.com/
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