Single Family homes under contract in Marin County July 2008 compared to Marin homes under contract in July 2007 Continue reading
July Marin County Home Sales Stats
July Marin home sales numbers are in and the results are about what I expected. The number of Marin homes for sale increased by about 10 percent, while the number of homes going into contract was relatively flat from last year. The number of homes sold was down just fourteen percent. While sales are still down from last year, the gap between sales of 2007 and 2008 is closing. In June, sales were down 20% from the previous year, so we did see a slight improvement.
| July 2007 | July 2008 | ∆ | % ∆ | |
| For Sale | 1,099 | 1,219 | 111 | 10.10 |
| Under Contract | 182 | 184 | 2 | 1.10 |
| Sold | 204 | 176 | -28 | -13.73 |
*Statistics pulled from BAREIS MLS. Single Family Residential Only.
Pacific Union Marin County Green Efforts
I am very excited to report that my office’s efforts to go green are working. Pacific Union has reduced it’s garbage by more than 50% over the last couple of months. The reduction is due in large part to the elimination of paper plates, napkins, plastic cutlery, and plastic bottles.
We now use recycled copy paper, and I often find paper being reused. I truly appreciate the efforts of our green police, although the motion sensors on the lights can be a little disturbing, especially if the lights go off and you get caught chatting with someone in the kitchen in the dark!
Way to go green, Pacific Union Marin!
How is the Marin Real Estate Market?
When will the real estate market rebound?
I get this question daily along with the “other” question “how is the Marin real estate market?”
How do I answer that question? Well- the Marin real estate market is unbelievable. One word can actually sum it up- Unbelievable!
Marin has lots of micro-markets. It is hard to make sweeping statements about our real estate marketplace in Marin. What is happening in one Marin neighborhood, may be completely different than another –not too far away. One home gets multiple offers, 3 blocks away another Marin home is languishing on the market. Unbelievable!
As always, location, schools, price range and condition continue to drive our market. I feel like I say this 100 times a month and many people just aren’t listening- a home has to be in tip top shape to garner immediate attention. This means staging, staging, and staging. It also means a fresh coat of paint in most situations, fresh plants (curb is appeal can make you or break you)
Avram Goldman, President and CEO of Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate says this in July 20th The Goldman Report:
When will the market rebound? That is the million dollar question. A recent article in CNNMoney.com by Amanda Gengler explored this topic. Amanda asked a number of experts as to what are the signs of a rebounding market.
The indicators were:
- positive job growth
- a shrinking housing stock
- shrinking number of days on the market
- prices falling at a slower pace
- a shrinking ratio of housing prices to rents
- a rising housing affordability index (an increasing number of buyers that can afford to buy a home).
At this point our market has 3 of the indicators mentioned—our housing stock has declined significantly since the beginning of the year—the affordability index has been increasing since the end of last year—and finally the pace of falling home prices has been diminishing. When the other two factors kick in we will be headed for the rebound that Amanda discusses. One final note, it was pointed out that real estate is a local game. According to the National Assn. of Realtors median prices for existing single family homes was actually higher than a year ago in a third of the country’s metro areas.
The same variations exist here in our own market. One size does not fit all.
One size truly does not fit with regards to Marin real estate. If you are considering selling your Marin home, talk to a Marin County real estate expert who can help guide you through the process. Preparation is everything! If you are thinking about purchasing a Marin home, this is an incredible opportunity to find a home. Consult a qualified Marin real estate agent who can assist you in getting the best deal available!
Marin Home Buyers To Receive Little Benefit From New Tax Act
The Foreclosure Prevention Act recently passed by Congress (and expected to be signed soon by the President) does not appear to offer much benefit to Marin home buyers and Marin homeowners.
Among the highlights of the Act is the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. This “credit†is essentially an interest-free loan to first-time buyers (buyers with no ownership in a principal residence during a 3 year period prior to purchasing a new home) up to $7,500.
The limitation (certain to impact many Marin home buyers) is that the credit begins to phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a married filing joint return). The “credit†received by the taxpayer is then generally required to be repaid over the following 15 years as an interest free loan.
Reduced Home Sale Exclusion Allowance
Among the negatives of the Act (also referred to as revenue raisers) is the reduced home sale exclusion for periods that a home was not used as a principal residence. This provision would limit the availability of the gain exclusion of up to $250,000 ($500,000 for married filing joint return) for homes used as vacation homes or rental properties after January 1, 2009. Under the current law, taxpayers can convert their vacation home or rental property to a principal residence and use the gain exclusion law if they meet the 2 of 5 year use and ownership requirements (one caveat for gain from former rental properties is that previously taken depreciation is generally recaptured and subject to a federal tax of up to 25%).
While the new Act may not benefit Marin homeowners, hopefully it will go toward improving slumping home sales in other parts of the country.
Marin “Best Place to Raise a Family”
Marin County makes the list of “America’s Best Places to Raise A Family†according to a June 30, 2008 article on www.forbes.com. Marin ranked #15 on the list of 20 best places.
Forbes used 10 data points for their ranking. Among the areas under consideration were education, housing, cost of living, crime, air quality and commute time.
As indicated in the article, the “rankings are skewed toward counties with good school districts.†This move certainly worked in Marin’s favor given the strong performance of our school system. The consideration of low crime, air quality (this summer excluded) and commute times were also likely favorable considerations for Marin.
Not in Marin’s favor was the cost of housing / living. The article cited a median home price of $901,900 as the most expensive on the list.
In case you needed it, the Forbes article is further confirmation of why people continue to move here. Despite the high cost of housing, people find value in the school system and quality of life. It is for these reasons that Marin’s home prices have held up so well in these difficult times for our nation’s housing market.
Motivated Sellers- Make an offer
I keep seeing emails flying about saying- motivated sellers, make an offer. Unfortunately, most sellers don’t realize (or won’t admit to themselves) that this tactic doesn’t generally work. There are a number of flaws with this strategy:
- How many people truly get the “memo” that the seller is motivated? A few real estate agents? Certainly not all of them, or even a majority of them.
- Buyers (who may not even be working with an agent) may not visit the home or look at it on the web because they don’t want to look at something they can’t afford. OR, because the listing price isn’t reduced in the multiple listing service,they just simply don’t know about it (their searches never find it!).
- Many home buyers (and often agents) don’t want to offend sellers by writing a lowball offer. We know you don’t get it. I don’t get it. But it is true, the majority of people don’t want to write a really low offer.
What does truly motivated mean? What it means to a seller might be very different to a potential buyer. To me (a real estate agent), it means they are not motivated enough to put it in writing.
If a seller is truly motivated, their motivation needs to be reflected in a good healthy price reduction- in most cases at least five percent!
MOTIVATED SELLER??…..(should =) BIG PRICE REDUCTION
An uphill climb for Marin Real Estate
An uphill climb and it all looks good. The chart below reflects all Marin County residential real estate. As you can see detailed in the chart, January sales stats county wide were dismal- down 45% from the previous year. Since March, the number of Marin homes and condos going into contract over the same month the previous year has steadily improved.
Finally- in June, the number of Marin homes & condos going into contract passed up the number of units from June 2007!! What does that mean? More buyers entered into contract to purchase a property in June 2008 over 2007.
Does this mean.. buyers are back in the market?
Marin County Home Sales- June 2008
The number of single family Marin homes for sale increased by almost 10% over June of 2007. The number of Marin County homes sold was down over 20% from June 2007. Despite the number of sold properties being down, the bright light continues to be strong sale pending numbers. The number of Marin homes under contract increased slightly by 4.57%.
Will that trend continue in July? I would expect a summer slow down as many buyers and sellers are vacationing, with a resurgence of buyer interest and activity in the fall.
| June 2007 | June 2008 | ∆ | % ∆ | |
| For Sale | 1,137 | 1,249 | 112 | 9.85 |
| Under Contract | 197 | 206 | 9 | 4.57 |
| Sold | 226 | 174 | -52 | -23.01 |
*Statistics pulled from BAREIS MLS. Single Family Residential Only.
Say good bye to your HELOC money
Have a home equity line of credit you were planning on taking money out of for an upcoming remodel, home purchase, or other need? It may not be there when you need it!
Sofia Nadjibi, Mortgage Broker at Union Trust Mortgage in Marin County gave me some words of wisdom to pass on to my clients:
If you consider your HELOC your “emergency account,” you should consider drawing some of that money out TODAY and putting it in a good interest-bearing account like ING Direct or a Money Market account. This is especially true if you don’t have at least 3-6 months of liquid savings already.
If you were planning to use your HELOC to purchase a real estate investment, or for remodeling, etc – same advice as above – draw it out and put it somewhere safe. You can always put it back later if you don’t need it- but very soon you may not be able to access this money at all.
What’s happening? Chase Home Equity announced that they are exiting the lending market. Other lenders (such as Citi, Washington Mutual, National City and Wells Fargo) are expected to freeze existing home equity lines of credit balances, meaning no more cash out.
Need a HELOC? Local Marin County banks are expected to still offer home equity lines of credit- think Bank of Marin, Tamalpais Bank and others, but of course if you really need that HELOC money, I wouldn’t “bank” on it!