Hello Everyone,
Back from the East Coast, and ready with this week's statistics and analysis.
Single Family inventory has not changed much, but percentage in contract is up moderately in all price points. The $2M-$2.99M and the $3M and up ranges moved from "strong buyers" to "buyers". Other categories all continue as "buyers" , but with higher percentage in contract, and approaching balanced market. Per Market Quest, accepted offers so far in October have exceeded new listings. Sale price/list price, 3 month average sold $, 3 month average $/sq.ft, and 3 month average sale price/list price ratio all trending up.
The loan panic seems to have quieted down a bit. Large surviving lenders like Countrywide are making some adjustments to loan terms in order to keep existing borrowers out of default. Mortgage money is available again, albeit with more oversight and stricter qualification guidelines.
There are enough price reductions, expired, and inactive listings for me to continue preaching seller caveats about preparation, pricing, and presentation. Novato and San Rafael continue to be more challenging markets than other parts of the county, and also represent huge buyer opportunities. An old friend of mine always says "better is the enemy of good". For every buyer who manages to successfully call the bottom of this market, there will be quite a few who will be wishing they had bought now. It may have already turned.
Condo's continue to lag a bit, with inventory up moderately. My guess is that this will change as SFR inventory tightens up. This is another huge window of opportunity for savvy buyers, especially those who may have formerly been priced out of the market.
For spreadsheets, please see http://www.fredanlyan.com
more next week
until then,
Best wishes,
Fred
Friday, October 26, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
The Anlyan Report. Marin Market Statistics 10.2.2007
Hello Everyone,
The monthly city-by-city report is out this week, along with the other reports. (see http://www.fredanlyan.com)
The market performance summary is as follows: Five towns and cities improved; Six experienced declines; and two were essentially unchanged. Mill Valley went into buyers' market territory for the first time in a long time, but further investigation revealed this was largely due to lagging condo sales. Removing condo's from the mix leaves Mill Valley SFR's at just about 25%, a balanced market-- --still a substantial cooling from just a few weeks ago. Sausalito experienced an increase in properties in contract, from just over 12% to a bit over 22%, leaving the market still in buyers' territory, but not by much. If Sausalito condo's are removed from the mix, the SFR market there is at about 33% in contract, a sellers' market. San Rafael extended its decline a bit, as did Novato, where a substantial supply of unsold inventory is creating major opportunities for buyers who may formerly have been priced out of the market. The message here is that the market is segmented, with buyers going after what they perceive to be the prime residential properties. Buying and selling homes in this kind of market requires the kind of professional experience that comes from constant exposure and current knowledge of local real estate conditions. Fortunately, here in Marin, this kind of assistance is readily available from the pool of experienced, professional REALTORS. At the risk of being redundant, I'll just say that pricing, preparation, and presentation are critical factors. It is not unusual for this kind of "staging" to make the critical difference in perception required to put a property into the "prime" category and have it sell quickly.
There are still quite a number of properties with price reductions, as well as a substantial number of expired, and withdrawn/temporarily off market listings. Inventory stabilized and came down just a bit last week after growing for several weeks prior. While we are entering the traditionally slower last quarter of the year, we still have an active market here in Marin. Mortgage money is available at good rates to qualified buyers, and buyers and sellers are negotiating their way to successful deals every day.
more next week----- Until then, best wishes to all,
Fred
p.s. for access to spreadsheets please see http://www.fredanlyan.com
The monthly city-by-city report is out this week, along with the other reports. (see http://www.fredanlyan.com)
The market performance summary is as follows: Five towns and cities improved; Six experienced declines; and two were essentially unchanged. Mill Valley went into buyers' market territory for the first time in a long time, but further investigation revealed this was largely due to lagging condo sales. Removing condo's from the mix leaves Mill Valley SFR's at just about 25%, a balanced market-- --still a substantial cooling from just a few weeks ago. Sausalito experienced an increase in properties in contract, from just over 12% to a bit over 22%, leaving the market still in buyers' territory, but not by much. If Sausalito condo's are removed from the mix, the SFR market there is at about 33% in contract, a sellers' market. San Rafael extended its decline a bit, as did Novato, where a substantial supply of unsold inventory is creating major opportunities for buyers who may formerly have been priced out of the market. The message here is that the market is segmented, with buyers going after what they perceive to be the prime residential properties. Buying and selling homes in this kind of market requires the kind of professional experience that comes from constant exposure and current knowledge of local real estate conditions. Fortunately, here in Marin, this kind of assistance is readily available from the pool of experienced, professional REALTORS. At the risk of being redundant, I'll just say that pricing, preparation, and presentation are critical factors. It is not unusual for this kind of "staging" to make the critical difference in perception required to put a property into the "prime" category and have it sell quickly.
There are still quite a number of properties with price reductions, as well as a substantial number of expired, and withdrawn/temporarily off market listings. Inventory stabilized and came down just a bit last week after growing for several weeks prior. While we are entering the traditionally slower last quarter of the year, we still have an active market here in Marin. Mortgage money is available at good rates to qualified buyers, and buyers and sellers are negotiating their way to successful deals every day.
more next week----- Until then, best wishes to all,
Fred
p.s. for access to spreadsheets please see http://www.fredanlyan.com
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