As we enter the Fall selling season, the number of homes for sale (inventory) in Marin County, California continues to march onwards and upwards. There are 788 active listings (up by 49 over last month). This month we begin to see more and more homes come off the market as sellers bunker down and reassess their situations over the holidays.

Meanwhile, savvy buyers will continue picking-off the properties that remain on the market. While the air has chilled with the onset of Fall, buyers have warmed to the market and sales have increased–lots of these buyers are coming in with large down payments and short contingencies to bolster their negotiating leverage with sellers anxious to make a deal. Novato continues to be a buyers’ dream with prices down and sellers more than willing to do what it takes to sell.  

The graph below breaks down the current number of homes for sale in Marin County, California, as of October 1, 2007, along with the price ranges for each town/city. Also included is a note indicating whether inventory is up or down over the past month:

Marin Single Family Homes For Sale

Some observations: living in Belvedere can be expensive–you’ll need a good $2.5 million to buy at the entry level. Alternately, Belvedere also offers one of Marin’s finest ultra-luxury homes at $18 million, replete with an infinity pool and views overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. The highest priced home in Marin, however, is an ultra-luxury Tiburon estate on about 8.5 acres, with 12 Bedrooms, 10 full baths and 3 half baths (it also boasts some very nice views). In fact, Tiburon currently has 5 homes in the $10 million and up range.

The average asking price for homes in Kentfield is just under $3 million (about $900 sq./ft.), with an average days on market of 106 days. Note that Kentfield currently has 4 homes priced under $1 million. Meanwhile, Greenbrae’s desirable location, schools (which shares Bacich Elementary and Kent Middle School with Kentfield), and views continues to propel home prices upwards–the cheapest home in Greenbrae is now well over $1 million ($1.195 million). And Mill Valley, despite over 80 homes on the market, has just 13 homes priced under $1 million.

On the other hand, Novato has 25 homes priced under $600,000 and another 39 priced under $700,000–that’s 64 homes under $700,000 in Novato! Novato’s 239 active listings is most in Marin County (and up 4 from last month).

If you desire a list of Marin County’s best deals or more specific analysis of your neighborhood, please give me a call at (415) 350-9440