Marin home sales, prices rise in January – Marin Independent
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The median single-family Marin home price edged up nearly 8 percent year-to-year in January to $679,000, and total sales rose 15 percent to 115, according to figures from the county assessor’s office.
Strong demand and a low inventory of houses for sale have increased competition for houses during the typically quiet winter season, Realtors said.
“Everything that I’ve listed since the beginning of the year, about seven listings, they’ve all sold within probably about a week, and the majority of them had multiple offers,” said Carol Courtney, an agent for Coldwell Banker in Novato. “In one case they had seven offers.”
The number of properties for sale in Marin in January remained near its lowest level in several years at 553, virtually unchanged from 547 a month earlier and down 41 percent from 945 in January 2011, according to Bay Area Real Estate Information Services, a multiple listing service.
“I have buyers right now, I’m taking them out today and I really don’t have much to show them,” Courtney said Tuesday. “It’s a real shame that sellers aren’t putting their properties on the market.”
Inventory has dropped sharply since mid-2011; Realtors say many homeowners are attempting to wait for prices to rise before listing their properties.
The share of homes sold through foreclosure or by homeowners with mortgage trouble fell slightly, to 39 percent in January, down from 42 percent in the same month of 2011. Such distressed
sales have hurt property values in many Marin neighborhoods since the start of the foreclosure crisis, and continue to nudge the price of neighboring houses downward despite the rise in the overall median price.
“The short sales and the foreclosures are what are really impacting the prices because they are selling a little under market value,” said Wayka Bartolacelli, an agent for Alain Pinel Realtors in Corte Madera.
Demand among investors and first-time homebuyers, which has been fueled by price declines in the past few years, remains strong, Courtney said.
“They are out there because they can buy a $200,000 condo that was $550,000 or $600,000 just a few years ago, or maybe $500,000,” she said.
While her recent listings have all sold quickly, Courtney said she has one home that has “languished” on the market for more than a year — a 7,000-square-foot “castle” in Novato with an asking price of nearly $2 million.
“It’s definitely the $500,000 and below that are moving quickly, $600,000 and below.”
The median Marin condominium price inched up 2.3 percent to $290,000 in January, up from $283,500 in the same month of 2011. The county recorded 48 condo sales in January, unchanged from January 2011.
Contact Will Jason via email at wjason@marinij.com
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