* % Change from Last Year

Town	Current	# Sold in	# of Months
	Inventory	January ‘10	of Inventory
Belvedere	21	1	21
Corte Madera	13	1	13
Fairfax	9	3	3
Greenbrae	10	2	5
Kentfield	16	4	4
Larkspur	14	2	7
Mill Valley	66	16	4
Novato	101	25	4
Ross	14	2	7
San Anselmo	24	7	3.5
San Rafael	96	22	44
Sausalito	28	1	28
Tiburon	41	2	20.5

]]> http://www.marinrealtygroup.com/insight-to-marin-real-estate/housing-inventory-vs-sales/feed/ http://www.marinrealtygroup.com/insight-to-marin-real-estate/2009-marin-county-single-family-home-sales/ http://www.marinrealtygroup.com/insight-to-marin-real-estate/2009-marin-county-single-family-home-sales/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:36:22 +0000 Lou http://www.marinrealtygroup.com/?p=654

# Single Family

Average List

Average Sold

Average Square

Homes Sold

Price

Price

Foot Price

All of Marin County

1,659

$1,049,202

$996,524

$489.45

Town by Town:

Belvedere

23

3,575,636

3,165,455

928.83

Corte Madera

69

1,033,738

996,160

538.17

Fairfax

64

708,478

687,566

403.26

Greenbrae

43

1,145,495

1,116,351

508.36

Kentfield

38

2,102,943

2,001,442

693.26

Larkspur

48

1,213,507

1,157,416

562.95

Mill Valley

229

1,250,706

1,181,971

549.5

Novato

424

655,858

637,278

296.68

Ross

35

2,359,516

2,245,380

748.71

San Anselmo

129

907,353

868,874

479.77

San Rafael

388

816,039

785,513

395.13

Sausalito

38

1,288,518

1,238,924

615.16

Stinson

11

1,607,857

1,433,464

821.94

Tiburon

67

2,458,018

2,229,467

719.88

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/real_estate/0910/gallery.housing_price_forecast/index.html

1) Any agent worth his weight in salt knows that pricing is the key component to successfully market and sell a property in today’s real estate market. It is not easy to tell a person that their home is worth less today than when they bought it but unfortunately that comprises a lot of today’s market.

2) Most sellers refuse to believe the facts regarding home values. They are taken aback, if not downright offended, when you are honest enough to discuss the reality of today’s values/prices. Most would rather hear an unrealistic value and have deluded themselves enough to believe it. Here starts the failure of the sale - priced too high when it comes on the market, waits too long for the inevitable price reduction and starts “chasing the market” which always results in a lower sales price then had it been priced correctly in the beginning. Or, the sellers never reduce the price, the home remains on the market getting “stale” and the home never sells or does so at an extreme discount due to length of time of the market.

3)Today’s home buyers are the most sophisticated we’ve ever seen. They have access to massive amounts of real estate information. This group is fully aware of market conditions and unlike most sellers perception that today’s buyers are looking for a “steal”, buyers are actually looking for a fair deal in today’s market. When you offer them a fair deal they respond with more gusto then you would believe.

4) Then there are the neighbors of sellers who refuse to accept the fact that their homes are worth less today then than have been in the past 5 years. When an agent prices a home “fairly for this market” or when the ultimate selling price is announced the listing agent can expect lots of woe and grief from neighbors accusing the agent of “underpricing the home” and “destroying our values”. Unfortunately these people are either deluded or completely unaware of the facts, figures and reality of today’s market.

Those are the main players in this tragi-comedy called our real estate market. A cast that makes for some very interesting times indeed.

SINGLE FAMILY HOMES

AUG 2009 AVERAGE

 LIST PRICE per SQ FT

AUG 2009 AVERAGE

SALES PRICE per SQ FT

AUG ‘08 AVERAGE SALES PRICE per SQ FT

% CHANGE

Under $1 million

$423.19

$382.08

$449.53

-15%

$1m - $1,999,999

$550.40

$501.27

$635.89

-21.20%

$2m and Up

$1,077.82

$676.59

$857.63

-21.20%