The June 2017 Marin County Real Estate Market Report

Welcome to my Marin County Real Estate Market Report for June 2017! Summer arrives this month and traditionally the market takes a bit of a breather while buyers and sellers are on holiday. We then often see a strong bump after Labor Day, though in 2016 this bump never quite materialized. Nationally, home sales declined in May, likely driven by inventory. Here in Marin County we saw a very strong May from a pricing perspective, while inventory continues to lag last year’s numbers.

In my business, one of my buyers just closed on a beautiful duplex (photo at bottom of this article) in San Rafael’s West End neighborhood. Duplexes are a great way to get some help with your mortgage payment while building equity in real estate.  In May, I launched 87 Brodea Way in San Rafael (pictured above) and 493 Washington Court in Tiburon and am preparing a newly-renovated top-floor Hayes Valley condo in San Francisco for launch later this month. I have had a great time working with the seller on the remodel of this beautiful unit.

I was pleased to see some great media coverage of 87 Brodea Way, including this article in Curbed SF.  (Be sure to check out my Featured Listings page to see beautiful homes for sale throughout Marin County as well as in Sonoma, Mendocino and San Francisco!)

I have been experimenting with the best way to present the information in my monthly market report and have created new dashboards below. Please leave any suggestions for further improvement in the comments section at the bottom of this page. Wishing you and yours a wonderful summer!

Marin County Real Estate Market Report June 2017 Dashboards

Marin County Real Estate Dashboard:
Home Prices


For sale prices decreased by 0.1% versus last month and increased 6.5% vs. the same month in 2016.


Average sold prices increased by 3.4% vs. last month and by 3.8% vs. the same month in 2016.


The median home price increased by 3.4% vs. last month and 10.5% vs. the same month in 2016.


The average price per square foot sold increased by 3.4% vs. last month and by 7.4% vs. the same month last year.

All information courtesy of and copyright by BAREIS MLS and TrendGraphix.
Dashboard compiled by Thomas Henthorne, all rights reserved.

Marin County Real Estate Dashboard:
Inventory


Number of homes for sale increased by 11% versus last month but decreased 7.2% vs. the same month in 2016.


Number of homes sold increased 6.6 % vs. last month and decreased 3.5% vs. the same month in 2016.


Months of inventory  increased 6.9% vs. last month but decreased 6.4% vs. the same month last year.


The average days on market increased by 2.6% vs. last month but decreased by 7.1% vs. the same month last year.

All information courtesy of and copyright by BAREIS MLS and TrendGraphix.
Dashboard compiled by Thomas Henthorne, all rights reserved.

National Real Estate Market Update

Courtesy of Wells Fargo Securities:

Are Soft Home Sales Due to a Lack of Supply, or a Lack of Demand?

“Low inventories and the calendar took most of the blame for April’s disappointing reports on new and existing home sales. New homes sales plunged 11.4 percent in April, while an upward revision to the prior three months data by a cumulative 55,000 units certainly takes some of the sting out of April’s decline. However, the unusually large headline drop along with a less dramatic 2.3 percent drop in existing home sales and declines in both pending home sales and mortgage purchase applications raises the prospect that something else may also being going on. This past month’s soft spot in sales was somewhat surprising given the recent strength in builder confidence (Figure 1). The Wells Fargo/NAHB Homebuilder Sentiment Index rose 2.0 points to 70 in May, as both present and future sales indices rose during the month. Builder confidence is near its highest point of the cycle and buyer traffic is said to be solid. A lack of homes available for sale is certainly part of the equation. Unseasonably mild winter weather likely allowed the spring home buying season to get off to an earlier start than usual, leaving fewer homes for potential buyers to choose from in April. Easter also came in mid-April, which likely negatively impacted sales that month. The impact of these two twists was magnified by the seasonal adjustment process, which looks for a big increase in sales each April, and thus made the smaller-than-usual rise look much weaker than it actually was.

Even with April’s soft patch, housing is still on track for its best year this decade. Sales of new homes through the first four months of this year are running 11.3 percent ahead of sales for the same period last year and sales of existing homes are up 2.1 percent for the comparable period. Housing starts also declined in April, although the entire drop was in multifamily units. Starts of new single-family homes rose 0.4 percent and are running 7.0 percent ahead of their year-ago pace through the first four months of this year. Builders are selling virtually everything they build and a rising share of new home sales are for homes that builders have not yet started.”

Please click here to read the full report from Wells Fargo.

What This Update Means For You

SELLERS: If you’re thinking of selling your home, don’t listen to your Uncle Fred at dinner who says it is a sellers market and buyers will pay anything. Buyers are well educated and the majority in Marin County are working with very experienced and savvy agents who know values. Keep an eye on some of the trends we are seeing — that while inventories remain tight, sellers are having a hard time pushing pricing higher than last year.  Bottom line: price your home for this market, not for the market in early 2016 or 2015.

BUYERS: For home buyers, the good news is that more balance is coming to the Marin real estate market even though inventories are tight. Look for homes that are well-priced and be prepared to move quickly. Chances are you are looking for the same things most other buyers are also seeking (see my list below.) Set up property alerts on my website so you can immediately see new homes on the market, and make sure you are pre-qualified so you present a compelling offer. (You may wish to read my article Buying a Home in Marin County for more tips and advice.) One other tip: Ask your agent to run aged inventory reports in and above your price range. Sometimes there are some real gems that the market has overlooked due to pricing or other factors.

What Are Buyers Looking For Right Now?

In speaking with buyers, they want it all right now, with the following at the top of their lists:

  • Great schools
  • Single-level
  • Easy commute
  • Walk to restaurants and shops
  • Views
  • Quiet streets
  • Remodeled homes in move-in condition

Smart buyers, which is almost all of them, realize they cannot have all of those attributes and buying a home in a market like Marin County is a series of tradeoffs. For example, they may choose to give up walking to restaurants to be in the hills with a view of the bay. In any event, we are seeing buyers that are more tech-savvy than ever and who have done their homework, reading market reports such as this one and spending a lot of time online looking at homes.

Marin Real Estate Market Report Charts

(click any slide to enlarge & launch slideshow)

“For Sale” vs. Sold Home Prices vs. Median Home Prices

Marin County Real Estate Market Report June 2017 Home Prices Chart

Marin Home Prices List Price vs. Sold

Chart showing days on market in Marin County

Marin County Months of Inventory Based on Closed Sales

Months of inventory chart

April 2017 Marin County Real Estate Market Report Average Price Per Square Foot

Average Price per Square Foot Chart

Would you like to see this data for your town only?

I am also now rolling out market update charts for selected towns in Marin. Please click the below for local real estate market updates & charts:

Kentfield Real Estate Market Update

Mill Valley Real Estate Market Update

San Rafael Real Estate Market Update

Tiburon Real Estate Market Update

Just One More:
The Entry to My Client’s New Duplex in San Rafael’s West End Neighborhood

48 El Camino Avenue in San Rafael entry gate

I hope you have found my Marin County Real Estate Market Report for June 2017 informative. Please feel free to add your comments, questions or suggestions in the comments section below. If I may be of any assistance in helping you attain your real estate goals, please call or text me at 415-847-5584 and I will be in touch right away.

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