February 16th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

February 16th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

This market profile is a snapshot of what is happening in San Rafael. San Rafael home prices in the 94903 zip code have continued to trend down in recent weeks while home prices in the 94901 zip code have stayed flat.  While the listing inventory in San Rafael has been decreasing, days-on-market has been increasing.  The Market Action Index has been basically flat, not providing a strong indication of the direction of the San Rafael real estate market. 

San Rafael Real Estate Market Update

The Market Action Index answers the question:
“How’s the San Rafael Real Estate Market?”
By measuring the current rate of sale versus the amount of inventory.
Index above 30 implies seller’s market conditions.
Below 30, conditions favor the buyer.

February 16th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

February 16th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

February 16th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

February 16th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

This market profile is a snapshot of what is happening in Corte Madera. Corte Madera home prices are down slightly this week but have trended up in recent weeks.  While the days-on-market has been increasing, the listing inventory and the Corte Madera Market Action Index have been essentially flat.

Corte Madera Real Estate Market Update

The Market Action Index answers the question:
“How’s the Corte Madera Real Estate Market?”
By measuring the current rate of sale versus the amount of inventory.
Index above 30 implies seller’s market conditions.
Below 30, conditions favor the buyer.

February 9th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

In my last post about the $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit, I mentioned that the one of the goals behind the bill is to generate home sales that will reduce the large backlog of home inventory across the country and thus help stabilize the economy.  Even Marin has been hit hard by the economic downturn.  The months supply of inventory for homes and condos in Marin is at 10.4 months, meaning at the current rate of sales, it would take 10.4 months to sell the existing home inventory if no new listings came on the market.  The challenge with these numbers is that it only reflects homes listed for sale on the multiple listing service.

As I mentioned recently, there are a large quantity of homes for sale in Marin County that are off the Marin MLS system.  The numbers you see in the chart below are artificially low due to the large quantity of homes being marketed outside the MLS system.

If passed, the economic stimulus package could help lower end buyers in Marin get off the fence and start purchasing again.  Stay tuned!

January 28th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

I was reading an article by Robert Frank (The Wealth Report) of the Wall Street Journal discussing Why Luxury Housing Could Be Hit Hardest.  Many people have said the market crisis hasn’t impacted the wealthy, but has absolutely impacted Marin County. 

While previous market swings (such as around the .com bust) have not made a huge impact on wealthy Marin County and the Marin real estate market, this one definitely has.  Marin has a large number of residents who work in financial services and they are losing their jobs.  The wealthy have lost huge percentages of their wealth in their portfolios.  While many of the wealthy may not lose their homes, they are definitely holding tight to what they do have.  The charts below show the dramatic difference in the lower end Marin real estate market vs. the upper end. The number of Marin homes sold under one million dollars is actually up.  The over a million stats?  Down 63.3%! 

Marin Real Estate Sales Stats for homes under $1,000,0000

Marin Real Estate Sales Stats for homes over $1,000,0000

Clearly the luxury real estate market in Marin County is hurting, and I anticipate this trend to continue in 2009.

January 27th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

I was reviewing sales statistics in Mill Valley and pulled these two charts.  The first chart is not anything surprising, the average days on the market of a Mill Valley home listing has been increasing while the median price of a Mill Valley home has been declining. 

I then pulled the chart below which shows the number of new listings versus the median home price for Mill Valley.  Median Mill Valley home prices have been declining with the number of new listings. 

As new late winter/early spring listings start to come on, the question is whether the median Mill Valley home price will see some recovery OR if home prices will continue to fall. 

January 20th, 2009 By Ginger Wilcox

This market profile is a snapshot of what is happening in Fairfax. Fairfax home prices are down slightly this week but have basically settled at a plateau.  Listing inventory has been tightening and days-on-market has been increasing.  The Market Action Index has been essentially flat.

The Market Action Index answers the question “How’s the Fairfax Real Estate Market?” By measuring the current rate of sale versus the amount of inventory. Index above 30 implies Seller’s Market conditions. Below 30, conditions favor the buyer.