Marin Real Estate

November Marin Real Estate News

Bay Area Real Estate Sales.com Newsletter

November 2007

IN THIS ISSUE:

Marin Home Sales Statistics

House Prices Up? Home Prices Tumble??

What Did Your Neighbors' House Sell For?

Search The Marin MLS For A New Marin Home

What To Look For In A Final Walk-Through Inspection

What Do Liz's Clients Say?

Fast Facts

MARIN HOME SALES STATISTICS

Recent homes sales even though increasing from prior months are still dismal compared to what we have seen in the 5 previous years. There are thirteen towns in the county that we track and all of them are not showing signs of robust home sales. Sales for October in all of the 13 cities and the Total number of homes listed for sale are as follows:

The number of homes on the market in San Rafael and Novato account for 53% of the total homes actively being markets for sale. The activities in these two areas are extremely low with the percent in contract at 24% for San Rafael and 15.6% for Novato. The Novato percent in contract is one of the lowest I have seen in 5 years. This accounts for some of the turmoil in the Novato market.

On a general note in Marin County, the widening of 101 will be complete in 2008, adding four lanes from the Golden Gate Bridge to Novato. Once this is complete it will open up lots of the congestion on the freeway that is being experienced due to the construction. Many buyers might rethink buying in outlying areas such as Novato if the commute is appreciably easier. Only time will tell.

Home sales bounced back in October from a dismal September, due to the panic in the credit markets. Sales of single-family, re-sale homes rose 26.9% from the month before, but were down 32.5% year-over-year. Year-to-date, home sales are down 5.6%.

The median price for single-family, re-sale homes in Marin County rose 0.7% in October, compared to the month before, up 7.7% year-over-year. The average price fell 10.8% from the new record set in September. Year-over-year, the average price was up 14.1%.

The median price for condos lost 10.6% to $565,000, again, after setting a new record the month before, and it was up 3%, year-over-year. The average price fell 8.3% to $645,813, up 10.5% compared to October 2006. Condo sales were up 36.4% from September, and off 38.8% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are down 19.1%.

MARIN HOME (CONDO + SFR) SALES STATISTICS - BY CITY AS OF 11/17/07
City	Total	Active	Number in Contract***	Percent in Contract*	Type of Market* (See Key)
Belvedere	21	17	4	19%	Strong Buyers
Corte Madera	32	22	10	31%	Balanced
Fairfax	27	21	6	22%	Buyers
Greenbrae	32	22	10	31%	Balanced
Kentfield	24	19	5	21%	Buyers
Larkspur	27	23	4	15%	Strong Buyers
Mill Valley	104	80	24	23%	Buyers
Novato	352	292	60	17%	Strong Buyers
Ross	15	13	2	13%	Strong Buyers
San Anselmo	51	37	14	27%	Buyers
San Rafael	262	207	55	21%	Buyers
Sausalito	51	38	13	25%	Buyers
Tiburon	78	57	21	27%	Buyers
Others	70	56	14	20%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 11/17/07	1,146	904	242	21.12%	Buyers
Total Marin 10/15/07	1,251	1,043	208	16.63	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 9/18/07	1,232	1,043	187	15.18%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 8/15/07	1,190	951	239	20.8%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 7/15/07	1,252	969	283	22.60%	Buyers
Total Marin 6/16/07	1,325	1,003	322	24.30%	Buyers
Total Marin 5/16/07	1,286	948	338	26.28%	Buyers
Total Marin 4/15/07	1,108	793	315	28.43%	Buyers
Total Marin 3/15/07	966	688	278	28.78	Buyers
Total Marin 2/15/07	893	631	262	29.34%	Buyers
Total Marin 1/15/07	720	548	172	23.89%	Buyers
Total Marin 12/15/06	898	669	229	25.5%	Buyers
Total Marin 11/16/06	1,197	902	295	24.64%	Buyers
Total Marin 10/15/06	1,401	1,095	306	21.84%	Buyers
Total Marin 9/15/06	1,395	1,127	268	19.21%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 8/18/06	1,346	1,029	317	23.55%	Buyers
Total Marin 7/13/06	1392	1077	315	22.63%	Buyers
Total Marin 6/16/06	1323	959	364	27.51%	Buyers
Total Marin 5/18/06	1,177	817	360	31%	Balanced
Total Marin 4/10/06	977	629	348	36%	Sellers
Total Marin 3/15/06	894	597	297	33%	Balanced

MARIN HOME SALES STATISTICS - BY PRICE RANGE AS OF 11/17/07
Price	Total	Active	Number in Contract***	Percent in Contract*	Type of Market* (See Key)
$100,000-$499,999	184	154	30	16%	Strong Buyers
$500,000-$749,999	272	201	71	26%	Buyers
$750,000-$999,999	217	176	41	19%	Strong Buyers
$1,000,000-$1,499,999	202	159	43	21%	Buyers
$1,500,000-$1,999,999	108	79	29	27%	Buyers
$2,000,000-$2,499,999	45	38	7	16%	Strong Buyers
$2,500,000-$2,999,999	38	34	4	11%	Strong Buyers
$3,000,000-$3,999,999	36	28	8	22%	Buyers
Over $4,000,000	44	35	9	20%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 11/17/07	1,146	904	242	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

Buyers right now have the upper hand but if rates continue to move downward and the credit markets stabilize then the market will become more competitive for buyers. If you are pre-approved for a loan and are ready to make an offer now is as good a time as any to step in and test the waters.

Although the credit crunch is having an effect on home sales, there is money available at reasonable rates from portfolio lenders. These are lenders that loan their own money and do not bundle up the loans for re-sale on Wall Street. Some examples are ING, local credit unions, and some small local business banks. Also, Countrywide, and some of the bigger banks, are planning to keep more of their loans in-house.

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.

Monthly Statistics

Complete monthly sales statistics for Marin County are below. Monthly graphs are available for each city in the county. Just email me!

October Sales Statistics
(Single-family Homes)
	Prices		Unit			Change from last year
	Median	Average	Sales	DOM	SP/LP	Median	Average	Sales
Marin	$1,050,000	$1,402,247	178	76	98.4%	8.0%	14.2%	-26.4%
Belvedere	$3,000,000	$6,322,000	5	209	97.6%	-1.1%	108.5%	150.0%
Corte Madera	$1,025,000	$988,344	9	47	97.2%	4.1%	-12.4%	-18.2%
Fairfax	$789,000	$816,857	7	35	103.9%	-6.3%	-16.3%	-30.0%
Greenbrae	$1,350,000	$1,184,000	5	35	103.9%	25.6%	17.6%	66.7%
Kentfield	$1,750,000	$1,882,937	9	70	99.1%	-15.3%	-12.0%	125.0%
Larkspur	$1,237,000	$1,237,000	2	66	99.2%	-26.0%	-21.9%	-75.0%
Mill Valley	$1,080,000	$1,316,894	33	47	99.4%	-2.9%	3.7%	-17.5%
Novato	$842,700	$885,266	29	85	98.0%	4.7%	-4.3%	-53.2%
Ross	$1,667,500	$3,335,167	3	128	98.7%	-8.1%	45.3%	0.0%
San Anselmo	$985,000	$976,800	18	70	97.9%	15.9%	-6.2%	28.6%
San Rafael	$820,000	$1,085,676	27	64	99.2%	-7.1%	1.7%	-48.1%
Sausalito	$1,612,500	$1,841,136	11	166	96.9%	-21.3%	-9.3%	37.5%
Tiburon	$1,300,000	$1,978,875	8	64	98.6%	-48.1%	-27.7%	-27.3%

October Sales Statistics
(Condos/Townhomes)
	Prices		Unit			Change from last year
	Median	Average	Sales	DOM	SP/LP	Median	Average	Sales
Marin	$490,000	$633,204	46	90	97.5%	-10.7%	6.4%	-14.8%
Corte Madera	$810,000	$810,000	2	49	98.3%	8.0%	8.0%	100.0%
Greenbrae	$434,750	$434,750	2	48	98.5%	-24.4%	-24.4%	0.0%
Mill Valley	$519,500	$519,500	2	65	96.3%	-30.7%	-30.0%	-77.8%
Novato	$452,000	$435,048	13	109	95.8%	-11.4%	-12.4%	-31.6%
San Rafael	$444,250	$556,839	14	111	97.5%	-19.1%	-2.8%	-12.5%
Sausalito	$674,000	$691,100	5	60	98.7%	7.0%	-8.7%	66.7%
Tiburon	$1,410,000	$1,368,000	6	64	97.8%	28.8%	24.9%	500.0%

As always, it's important to view the individual city and price range stats - see the chart below for more details.

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 Real Estate Statistics.

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!

Trends at a Glance
(Single-family Homes)
	Oct 07	Sep 07	Oct 06
Median Price:	$1,050,000	$985,000	$972,500
Average Price:	$1,402,247	$1,368,381	$1,227,378
Home Sales:	178	203	242
Sale/List Price Ratio:	98.4%	96.3%	97.6%
Days on Market:	76	70	64

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

HOUSE PRICES UP? HOME PRICES TUMBLE??

This month's headline reads: Median home price leaps to $978,000

Did you read the Marin Independent Journal (Marin IJ) headline on 10/19? It read: "House Prices Tumble from August"

Our local newspaper LOVES to sell newspapers with real estate headlines! Readers love to talk about the headlines. I'm asked all the time, what is the Marin market really doing?

Here is November's article from the Marin IJ, you be the judge:

"Marin's median home price jumped nearly 7 percent in October while sales plummeted, a research firm reported Thursday.

The $978,000 median price for a single-family home in Marin in October was up 6.9 percent from $915,000 at this time last year, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems. Single-family home sales dropped nearly 30 percent, down to 169, from 239 homes sold in October 2006. The median price for a condominium was down 1.6 percent, dropping to $543,000 in October, from $552,000 a year ago. Sales dropped nearly 26 percent, from 58 in October 2006 to 43 last month.

A total of 5,486 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in October. That was up 9.4 percent from 5,014 in September, and down 35.7 percent from 8,532 for October a year ago, according to DataQuick.

Bay Area home sales remained at the lowest level in decades. Prices continued to hold up best in core markets, such as Marin, while declines were steeper in some inland areas, industry analysts noted.

"Marin continues to be the upbeat part of the real estate market," said Marin Association of Realtors president Valerie Castellana, who added that headlines about Marin's down market are misleading.

"When you get to the very top of the scale, prices are holding steady - they're not going down - which appears to be the case in Marin," said John Karevoll, DataQuick analyst. "Marin, so far anyway, seems to be largely untouched by the price declines we're seeing in other parts of the state."

Year-to-year sales have increased anywhere from 8 to 59 percent in Greenbrae, Kentfield, Corte Madera, San Anselmo and Tiburon, Castellana said.

Areas that have seen declines - between 2 and 6 percent - are Larkspur, Sausalito, West Marin and Fairfax, she said.

"Truly the only communities that are struggling are Novato and some parts of San Rafael," Castellana said.

The lending industry is beginning to make a comeback, which should help the sagging end of the market, industry officials said. Hard-hit has been jumbo lending - notes over $417,000.

Nearly 80 percent of Marin's borrowers hold jumbo loans. Lately Marin has seen an uptick in smaller borrowing. There were 66 "conforming" loan purchases in October, 48 in September, 52 in August and 43 in July, DataQuick analysts said.

"The news coming out of the lending industry is certainly improving," Castellana said. "Loans are becoming more widely available again. "It's really only a matter of time (before) first-time buyers will re-emerge."

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:

11/14/07 Nov 14 Marin Home Sales

11/11/07 Nov 11 Marin Home Sales

11/04/07 Nov 04 Marin Home Sales

10/28/07 Oct 28 Marin Home Sales

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

SEARCH THE MARIN MLS FOR A NEW MARIN HOME

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
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

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A FINAL WALK-THROUGH INSPECTION

By Ilyce R. Glink

Most home buyers will have at least two opportunities to inspect their property before closing on the purchase.

First, most buyers will include a contingency in the contract that allows them to do a professional home inspection by the home inspector of their choice. This inspection typically happens right after the sales price has been agreed to, usually within a week or 10 days.

If the home inspector finds anything wrong in the property or decides further inspections (perhaps for radon, heating and air conditioning systems, or mold) are called for, the home buyer will be able to hire specialists to figure out if there is an insurmountable physical problem with the property.

Assuming those inspections go well, the second opportunity to inspect the property is just before the property closes. The preclosing inspection, or final walk-through, as it is often referred to, is a home buyer's last opportunity to walk through the property before closing.

What you're looking for here is not at the same level as the initial professional home inspection. In a preclosing inspection, you simply want to make sure that the property is in the same condition as it was on the day you agreed to buy it.

To avoid getting burned, you schedule the walk-through as close to the actual closing as possible, certainly within the 24 to 48 hours prior to closing. If possible, the sellers should have already moved out.

The whole point of the walk-through is to protect yourself and your future property from sellers who aren't as nice as they seem to be or who are actually as nasty as they appear. By inspecting the premises, you're making sure the seller has lived up to his or her agreements in the sales contract. And if he or she hasn't, you want to know about it in advance of the closing so remedies (both monetary and otherwise) can be agreed upon before money changes hands.

What should you look for in a preclosing inspection?

To start with, you want to make sure that the condition of the home hasn't changed since you signed the contract several months earlier.

Believe it or not, a lot can change in the ensuing weeks. To make sure the home is in the same condition, you'll want to turn on every appliance, open every door, make sure nothing's broken (lights, fixtures, windows, etc.), be certain everything the seller agreed to leave is actually there and in good shape, and be certain that when the sellers moved out, they did no damage to the home.

Sometimes movers can accidentally scrape a wall or pull up carpet in the process of packing up the contents of a house. If you do your preclosing inspection while the movers are there, you'll have a harder time getting around them to make sure that the property is in good shape.

If you get there before the sellers have packed anything up, you might wind up with some nasty surprises on the day you move into the property.

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

WHAT DO LIZ'S CLIENTS SAY?

"When Martin and I got pregnant and knew we needed to move off of our houseboat, we weren't sure we wanted to list with a real estate agent. But after talking with you and comparing your services to other options out there, we decided to give it a go. As you know, we couldn't have been happier with the results!

We appreciated your support in guiding us through the steps we needed to take to get our home ready to sell so that we could get the best return on it. You gave us excellent advice and helped us stay on schedule. We were amazed to have multiple offers on our home within 2 weeks of listing it, especially because the majority of houseboats are on the market more than a few months. Plus, houseboats rarely sell at or above asking price, as ours did. We definitely feel that the website you built, the marketing you did, and the choices that you helped us make directly impacted the easy and profitable sale of our home! We were thrilled.

And then your guidance and patience as we went about purchasing a home again were beyond what we could have expected! It was a truly amazing experience. You were so obviously out for our best interests, as opposed to just looking to close a deal. You gave us wonderful, thoughtful and educated information and advice, and this helped prevent us from buying the wrong home just because we felt rushed by our timeline. You also introduced us to the best vendors, from inspectors to mortgage services, and this created ease in a process that could otherwise be so difficult.

We absolutely love the home that we ended up buying, and we attribute this largely to your involvement. That you took the time not just to help us get the right deal but also to help us make the right choice for us, based on where we are at in our lives and the items we had delineated as most important to us, is so appreciated. From the moment we began working with you, we were impressed with the constant integrity, dedication and patience that you exhibited. It was empowering to have you on our team for this major process in our lives.

We absolutely recommend your services to everyone we meet. We can't imagine having a better experience with a realtor. We truly feel blessed to have worked with you!

With gratitude,"

-Traci and Martin Orimenko

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.

FAST FACTS

Marin median SFR + condo price- Oct 07: $921,500 2006: $864,000 [Source: BAREIS]

Marin average SFR + condo price-: Oct 07: $1,221,000; 2006: $1,089,129 [Source: BAREIS]

Marin median SFR home price - Oct 07: $1,022 ,000; 2006: $956,000 [Source: BAREIS]

Marin median condo price - Oct 07: $565,000; 2006: $548,000 [Source: BAREIS]

Calif. median home price -Sept 07: $530,000 [Source: C.A.R.]

Calif. highest median home price Sept 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,667,000 [Source: C.A.R.]

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region Sept 07: High Desert $717,000 [Source: C.A.R.]

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - 2^nd Quarter 07: 24 percent [Source: C.A.R.]

Mortgage rates - week ending 11/15/07: (Source: Freddie Mac)

· 30-yr. fixed: 6.24%; Fees/points: 0.4%

· 15-yr. fixed: 5.88%; Fees/points: 0.4%

· 1-yr. adjustable: 5.50%; Fees/points: 0.6% (as of 11/8/07)

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

The Bay Area Real Estate Newsletter is provided to you by:

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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