School is out and summer is here. The sound of children’s laughter and the smell of summer barbecues fill the air. Many people have started their summer vacations. So what is this doing to the real estate market? Last week’s broker tour seemed very quiet. Many “hot” properties were empty when I walked through at tour time, although I did hear a couple of agents say they had more than 70 agents through their tour. Slower Broker Tours means more agents (and their clients) on vacation. It will be interesting to see the number of clients through open homes this weekend.
The big picture Marin real estate market has defnitely slowed down. 24% of single family homes in Marin County are in contract. This generally indicates a buyers market. If we look at specific cities, Greenbrae has 46% of listings in contract, Fairfax 42%, and Corte Madera 39%. These percentages would generally indicate a sellers market. The slowest areas based on percentage in contract are Ross (10%), Belvedere (14%), Sausalito (14%), San Rafael (20%), Tiburon (22%) and Novato (22%). Kentfield (26%), San Anselmo (31%), Larkspur (33%), and Mill Valley (35%) are more balanced.
March was Marin’s strongest real estate month this year, with a gradual downtrend in number of listings in contract over the last couple of months.