If you would like to see all of the recent home sales (by address) in Marin my Real Estate company (Vision Real Estate) publishes these here: http://westbayre.com/frame_main.htm

I will attempt to review the Marin Real Estate Market year 2008. As everyone knows, the market in general is a Buyers Market, but as always, due to many factors, Marin is doing better than many other parts of the state and country.

Sales of single-family, re-sale homes fell for the fourth year in a row in 2008. County home sales started the year strong, but faded down the stretch with home sales falling, year-over-year four out of the last five months.

Single Family Homes: In comparing the Single Family Home Prices for all of 2008, compared to 2007, The Median home price was $940,000 (which is 9.2% down from the 2007 median price of $1,035,000) and the average home price is: $1,272,111 (down 7.3% from 2007, $1,372,240). Only the second time since we've been keeping track, 1995, that the median price has been down for the year. The last time was in 2006 and that was a meager 0.4% decline. The time it took to sell a home was at record highs in 2008. It took, on average, 91 days from when a home was listed to when it went into contract.

Condos: The sale of condos was up 0.4%. The median condo price was $405,000 at year end 2008 (compared to $570,000, down 29%) and the average condo price was $476,148 (compared to $643,148, down 26% from 2007) Days on market for condos was also at a record high last year: 106 days.

Note: The median marks the point at which half the homes sold for more, half for less. It reflects the composition of homes sold rather than an across-the-board change in all home values.

The mix of sold properties skewed toward lower-cost homes. Mortgages of more than $417,000 used to account for 60 percent of Bay Area purchase financing, DataQuick said. In December, just one-fifth of homes sold in the area had loans greater than $417,000.

Foreclosure sales Figures: In Marin, foreclosure resales were 21.5 percent of total sales, down slightly from 22.4 percent in November but more than triple the 6.4 percent of total sales the year before.

You can see all the historical home prices since 1995 in the chart below.

Marin County
(Single Family Homes)
	Prices		Other			Percent Change
	Average	Median	Sold	DOM	SP/LP	Average	Median	Sold
1995	$424,464	$352,000	1,938
1996	$451,210	$372,495	2,366			6.3%	5.8%	22.1%
1997	$482,795	$395,000	2,883			7.0%	6.0%	21.9%
1998	$543,443	$430,000	2,869	41	97.9%	12.6%	8.9%	-0.5%
1999	$667,643	$510,000	3,041	37	98.9%	22.9%	18.6%	6.0%
2000	$816,364	$615,000	2,701	32	101.8%	22.3%	20.6%	-11.2%
2001	$853,558	$650,000	2,106	56	97.3%	4.6%	5.7%	-22.0%
2002	$889,011	$705,000	2,620	60	97.7%	4.2%	8.5%	24.4%
2003	$926,946	$732,000	2,731	64	97.6%	4.3%	3.8%	4.2%
2004	$1,062,756	$849,000	2,837	55	99.5%	14.7%	16.0%	3.9%
2005	$1,228,610	$959,000	2,590	56	99.6%	15.6%	13.0%	-8.7%
2006	$1,231,156	$955,000	2,159	73	98.1%	0.2%	-0.4%	-16.6%
2007	$1,372,240	$1,035,000	1,975	81	97.8%	11.5%	8.4%	-8.5%
2008	$1,272,111	$940,000	1,550	91	95.9%	-7.3%	-9.2%	-21.5%

Marin Single Family Home Prices 2008

Marin County
(Condos & Town Homes)
	Prices		Other			Percent Change
	Average	Median	Sold	DOM	SP/LP	Average	Median	Sold
1998	$246,120	$219,000	604	39	99.1%
1999	$274,809	$247,000	617	25	100.8%	11.7%	12.8%	2.2%
2000	$338,191	$295,000	567	24	102.4%	23.1%	19.4%	-8.1%
2001	$395,749	$360,000	579	47	99.3%	17.0%	22.0%	2.1%
2002	$439,357	$399,000	814	54	99.6%	11.0%	10.8%	40.6%
2003	$475,783	$429,000	876	52	99.0%	8.3%	7.5%	7.6%
2004	$521,822	$490,000	939	45	101.9%	9.7%	14.2%	7.2%
2005	$584,911	$540,000	819	43	102.0%	12.1%	10.2%	-12.8%
2006	$601,762	$548,250	626	79	99.0%	2.9%	1.5%	-23.6%
2007	$643,148	$570,000	497	83	98.3%	6.9%	4.0%	-20.6%
2008	$476,148	$405,000	499	106	97.1%	-26.0%	-28.9%	0.4%

Marin Condo Prices 2008

The chart below shows that as in the last few months, the low end of the market (under $500,000) is moving and is in fact considered to be a “sellers” market at the moment. For example of the 139 properties that are currently on the market priced from $1M - $1.5M, only 10% of those are in contract currently, which equates to an “Extreme Buyers” market. Although the overall market shows it’s a “buyers” market, that fact is misleading, as the largest number of properties that are in contract are all in the very low end (under $500,000).

MARIN HOME (CONDO + SFR) SALES STATISTICS - BY CITY AS OF 1/22/2009
City	Total	Active	Number in Contract***	Percent in Contract*	Type of Market* (See Key)
Belvedere	22	19	3	14%	Strong Buyers
Corte Madera	27	24	3	11%	Strong Buyers
Fairfax	31	26	5	16%	Strong Buyers
Greenbrae	16	13	3	19%	Strong Buyers
Kentfield	22	19	3	14%	Strong Buyers
Larkspur	27	24	3	11%	Strong Buyers
Mill Valley	100	84	16	16%	Strong Buyers
Novato	281	196	85	30%	Buyers
Ross	13	13	0	0%	Extreme Buyers
San Anselmo	55	46	9	16%	Strong Buyers
San Rafael	265	190	75	28%	Buyers
Sausalito	36	33	3	8%	Extreme Buyers
Tiburon	76	69	7	9%	Extreme Buyers
Others	66	63	3	5%	Extreme Buyers
Total Marin 1/22/08	1037	819	218	21.02%	Buyers
Total Marin11/24/08	1244	965	279	22.43%	Buyers
Total Marin10/29/08	1377	1096	281	20.41%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 6/16/08	1586	1220	366	23.08%	Buyers
Total Marin 5/21//08	1582	1226	356	22.50%	Buyers
Total Marin 4/15/08	1375	1085	290	21.09%	Buyers
Total Marin 3/16/08	1157	913	244	21.09%	Buyers
Total Marin 2/18/08	949	742	207	21.81%	Buyers
Total Marin 1/17/08	802	674	128	15.96%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 12/18/07	932	757	175	18.78%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 11/17/07	1,146	904	242	21.12%	Buyers

MARIN HOME SALES STATISTICS - BY PRICE RANGE AS OF 1/22/09
Price	Total	Active	Number in Contract***	Percent in Contract*	Type of Market* (See Key)
$100,000-$499,999	270	152	118	44%	Sellers
$500,000-$749,999	236	190	46	19%	Strong Buyers
$750,000-$999,999	174	148	26	15%	Strong Buyers
$1,000,000-$1,499,999	139	125	14	10%	Extreme Buyers
$1,500,000-$1,999,999	76	68	8	11%	Strong Buyers
$2,000,000-$2,499,999	45	44	1	2%	Extreme Buyers
$2,500,000-$2,999,999	31	30	1	3%	Extreme Buyers
$3,000,000-$3,999,999	26	23	3	12%	Strong Buyers
Over $4,000,000	38	38	0	0%	Extreme Buyers
Total Marin 6/16/08	1035	818	217	21%	Buyers

Key to market type:*
0% - 10% of Homes in Escrow: Extreme Buyers	36% - 45% of Homes in Escrow: Sellers
11% - 20% of Homes in Escrow: Strong Buyers	46% - 55% of Homes in Escrow: Strong Sellers
21% - 30% of Homes in Escrow: Buyers	56% - 100% of Homes in Escrow: Extreme Sellers
31% - 35% of Homes in Escrow: Balanced Market

**Based on information from Bay Area Real Estate Information Services, Inc. (BAREIS). Information has not been verified, is not guaranteed, and is subject to change and is based on one period of time.”

***Includes all: Sale Pending & Contingent properties

The real estate market is very hard to generalize. It is a market made up of many micro markets. For complete information on a particular neighborhood or for an evaluation of your home's worth, call me. If I can help you devise a strategy, call or click the buying or selling link in the menu to the top.

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!

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

BARGAIN HUNTING DOMINATES BAY AREA HOME SALES IN DECEMBER

January 21, 2009 - La Jolla, CA.----Bargain hunting dominated the Bay Area housing market last month as the purchase of foreclosure properties accounted for more than half of all resales for the first time. Sales patterns also reflected continued problems for buyers looking to finance purchases in the upper half of the market's price range, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 6,889 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine- county region last month. That was up 19.7 percent from 5,756 in November, and up 36.0 percent from 5,065 for December 2007, according to MDA DataQuick.

While sales were well below the 8,807 average for all Decembers going back to 1988, they were no longer at the record low levels of late 2007 and the first half of 2008.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $330,000 in December. That was down 5.7 percent from $350,000 for the month before, and down 43.8 percent from $587,500 for December 2007. That was the lowest it has been since March 2000 when the median was $320,500, and 50.4% below the $665,000 peak of June/July 2007.

"It would be wrong to say that Bay Area home values are half of what they were a year-and-a-half ago. We're figuring that maybe half of the decline in median is a market mix issue, and the rest a drop in value. But we're in the middle of this, and we won't be able to quantify it until it's behind us. What is remarkable, is that so much Bay Area activity is still on hold, waiting the turbulence out. We don't know how long that can last," said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.

Home loans for more than $417,000, the old "jumbo" limit, used to account for more than 60 percent of the Bay Area's purchase financing. Last month it was 21.8 percent.

The most active lenders to Bay Area home buyers were Countrywide, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. MDA DataQuick will report more extensively on the home financing market next month.

Homes that were foreclosed on accounted for 50.0 percent of December's resale activity, up from 46.8 percent in November, and up from 14.0 percent for December a year ago. Foreclosure resales ranged from 12.4 percent in San Francisco last month to 67.7 percent in Solano County.

MDA DataQuick is a division of MDA Lending Solutions, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. MDA DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,471 last month, down from a revised $1,695 for the previous month, and down from a revised $2,848 for December year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments were 43.9 percent below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They were 58.5 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity waned in early fall but is edging higher again and remains near record levels, while financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is at an all-time low, as is financing with multiple mortgages. Down payment sizes and flipping rates are stable, non-owner occupied buying activity appears flat, MDA DataQuick reported.

	Sales Volume			Median Price
All homes	Dec-07	Dec-08	%Chng	Dec-07	Dec-08	%Chng
Alameda	983	1,492	51.8%	$540,000	$338,000	-37.4%
Contra Costa	971	1,788	84.1%	$505,000	$252,500	-50.0%
Marin	193	165	-14.5%	$760,500	$562,500	-26.0%
Napa	72	111	54.2%	$590,000	$402,500	-31.8%
Santa Clara	1,265	1,265	0.0%	$655,000	$436,000	-33.4%
San Francisco	445	366	-17.8%	$731,000	$616,500	-15.7%
San Mateo	468	435	-7.1%	$733,500	$537,000	-26.8%
Solano	360	733	103.6%	$370,000	$213,500	-42.3%
Sonoma	308	534	73.4%	$410,000	$300,000	-26.8%
Bay Area	5,065	6,889	36.0%	$587,500	$330,000	-43.8%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com

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

HOME PRICES - $ PER SQUARE FOOT DECREASES IN MANY CITIES IN MARIN

It’s important to keep in mind that the data below is a snapshot – it tells the story of all homes sold within a specific time period in Marin (3 months 7/15 – 10/15). It’s not reflective of an entire year. Additional things to keep in mind: if only 1 or 2 Marin homes sold within that time period, the data is only reflective of those few home sales, and lastly, as most Marin Real Estate watchers know, Dollar per square foot figures in Marin are very hard to compare property to property, as there are many variables (flat lot, view, condition of home, etc)

The following data is from SFGate.com

http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/sqfthomeprices/

City	July 15 – Oct 15 Median $/SF 2007	July 15 – Oct 15 Median $/SF 2008	Year over year change	More details
Inverness	$627	$440	-29.8%	Details
Novato/94945	$407	319	-21.6%	Details
Greenbrae	736	591	-19.6%	Details
Novato/94947	437	352	-19.5%	Details
Belvedere Tiburon	853	722	-15.4%	Details
Novato/94949	426	363	-14.9%	Details
San Rafael/ 94903	476	419	-12.0%	Details
Fairfax	566	524	-7.4%	Details
Corte Madera	609	592	-2.9%	Details
Mill Valley	689	692	0.5%	Details
San Rafael/ 94901	499	502	0.6%	Details
Sausalito	716	757	5.7%	Details
Stinson Beach	998	1060	6.2%	Details
Ross	715	830	16.1%	Details
Larkspur	604	707	17.1%	Details
San Anselmo	524	628	19.7%	Details

JOBLESS RATE IN MARIN – LOWEST IN STATE

12/19/08 - Marin County's unemployment rate inched up a tenth of a percentage point to 5 percent in November and remained the lowest of any county in California, while the state jobless rate climbed to 8.4 percent - the third-highest in the nation, officials reported Friday. (MarinIJ.com)

WHAT DID YOUR NEIGHBORS’ HOUSE SELL FOR?

Are you Curious to know what the Median home price is in your neighborhood?

The Neighborhood Homes Sold listing is a weekly reader feature of the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle. The data posted here is typically recorded a few months after the property officially sold. This is the public data available in the published tax records. The home addresses, sales price, number of bedrooms, square footage and the year the homes were built are based on information supplied from Bay Area counties' property transaction records which, in some cases, may not be complete.
Previous editions of Neighborhood Homes Sold

Click on the following links to see what price homes sold for in your neighborhood:

Jan 18 Marin Home Sales

Jan 11 Marin Home Sales

Jan 4 Marin Home Sales

Dec 28 Marin Home Sales

Dec 21 Marin Home Sales

Dec 14 Marin Home Sales

Dec 7 Marin Home Sales

I can also send you a link to view ALL of the current and past home sales in Marin. I am not allowed to publish this data publicly, so you’ll have to email me and I’ll send you the link. Just click here to send me an email automatically: email

SEARCH THE MARIN MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE

The following links will take you to home searches for different cities in Marin.
All search results are displayed from the highest price to the lowest price. You can scroll through pages at a time.

Belvedere homes for sale: Belvedere Homes For Sale
Corte Madera homes for sale: Corte Madera Homes For Sale
Fairfax homes for Sale: Fairfax Homes For Sale
Greenbrae homes for sale: Greenbrae Homes For Sale
Kentfield homes for sale: Kentfield Homes For Sale
Larkspur homes for sale: Larkspur Homes For Sale
Mill Valley homes for sale: Mill Valley Homes For Sale
Novato homes for Sale: Novato Homes For Sale

Novato CONDOS for Sale: Novato Condos For Sale
Ross homes for sale: Ross Homes For Sale
San Anselmo homes for sale: San Anselmo Homes For Sale
San Rafael HOMES for sale: San Rafael Homes For Sale
San Rafael CONDOS for sale: San Rafael Condos For Sale
Sausalito homes for sale: Sausalito Homes For Sale
Tiburon homes for sale: Tiburon Homes For Sale

If any of the above links do not work, you can also set up your own searches here:

Search for Marin Homes

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...that's why buyers and sellers insist on them. Shouldn't you?

Liz has just launched her Number1Expert Marin Real Estate website: www.MarinHomeStore.com

THE BAY AREA REAL ESTATE NEWSLETTER IS PROVIDED TO YOU BY:

If you would like to have Liz help you sell your Marin home or help you find a home, or you know of someone that could benefit from her services, just send her an email: liz@BayAreaRealEstateSales.com or give her a call: 415-250-4929

“High-Touch through High-Tech”: Did you know that Liz McCarthy is ePro Internet Certified by the National Association of Realtors and that 70 percent of home buyers today use the internet in their home search? Why are you still working with a Realtor who isn’t a technology expert?

What this means to you:

Home Buyers: Liz is an expert in helping save you time by using the internet, email and other technology resources to help save your valuable time and money. She knows how busy you are!

Home Sellers: Liz will hire a professional photographer and market your home extensively on the internet: a personal property website (see www.417Greenfield.com or www.50milland.com for samples), she will post your home on over 50 websites.

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

Liz McCarthy

“High-Touch through “High-Tech”

Real Estate Broker, e-PRO certified

Vision Real Estate

Liz@BayAreaRealEstateSales.com

415-250-4929

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Liz Stolz McCarthy

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E-mail : Liz@BayAreaRealEstateSales.com