Marin County, California, Luxury Homes Report (July 2007 Sales and Inventory Analysis)

The number of Marin luxury homes for sale continues to rise. Following the strong early Spring selling season, luxury estates, view and waterfront homes, new construction, and homes with prime locations continue to sell at a very respectable rate. Overall, about 20% of Marin County, California?s luxury homes (those priced above $2 million) are in escrow?there are 166 active listings and 32 in escrow. Proximity to San Francisco continues to be the driving force behind appreciation and sales as reflected by the fact that most of these homes are located in Southern Marin (the majority are in Mill Valley, Sausalito, Tiburon, and Belvedere, and a little further north in Ross and Kentfield).

In the $2 million to $4 million range, the number of active listings is up by 41 for a total of 148 homes. That may seem like a lot. But, in a flurry of activity, 35 homes in that price range sold in Marin last month. Mill Valley, with its convenient location close to San Francisco, had the largest number of homes sold with 14. Tiburon had 6 sales, San Rafael had 3, Belvedere had 2, Corte Madera had 2, and Kentfield and Sausalito each had just 1 sale. Overall, in Marin County, the average days on market was 62 days, the average sales price about $2.78 million (roughly $897/per sq. ft.), and these homes averaged about 3,362 square feet.

In the $4 million and up range, there are currently 50 active homes on the market in Marin, up by 5 from last month. Tiburon leads the pack with 12 homes, followed by Belvedere with 9, Ross with 8, and Kentfield with 7. Sales is this price range over the past month are led by Ross, with 2 sales averaging an astonishingly low 16 days marketing time and $5.2 million dollars sales price (that’s about $1,300/per sq. ft.). We are all waiting to see the sales price for the Bill Graham estate in Corte Madera, which has gone into Pending status at an asking price of $24 million.

Below is a graph identifying the numbers of active listings and homes in contract in Marin?s luxury home market segment. Note that all homes in contract are included in the category ?Pending? even though some are technically ?Contingent? properties. Call Kyle Frazier, CRS, Broker Associate, Frank Howard Allen Realtors of Marin, at 415/350-9440 with any questions.