Mill Valley Real Estate (September 2007 Home Sales Report)

School is back in session and Mill Valley home sales and prices are strong. The inventory of single family homes is down to 69 units from last month’s 85. A mere 14 are currently on the market under $1 million! As always, the commute to San Francisco from Mill Valley via the Golden Gate Bridge (a short 5-10 minutes), along with the excellent Mill Valley schools, pleasant weather and laid back ambiance is very attractive to just about everyone. Accordingly, prices and sales are ever-strong. Indeed, Mill Valley is THE place people thinking of moving out of San Francisco generally start with when they decide to buy a home in Marin County.

Mill Valley homes priced between $1 million and $1.5 million are selling fast so long as they are nicely maintained, updated, and/or located in the most desirable neighborhoods–10 of these homes sold in August 2007 (down by 7 from July’s sales numbers). As with much of the rest of Marin, homes priced aggressively are getting multiple offers?note: the winning bid (which is not always the highest bid) is likely to be a couple of percent above asking price, depending on the home ad price. Mill Valley luxury home sales have also been robust with 4 homes selling (and several more currently in escrow) in the $2 million – $4 million price range. Just one of Mill Valley’s ultra-luxury homes (in the $4 million and up range) sold in August and another is currently in escrow.

Mill Valley homes that sold during the past month (there were 32 home sales, compared with 44 in August 2007) averaged 48 days on market and sold for an average price of about $1.31 million ($686 per square foot). The hottest market segment, as expected, was the under $1 million market with 14 sales last month. As noted above, with only 14 of such homes currently on the market, the absorption rate for such homes is just one month (indicating an extremely strong sellers market). Meanwhile, 10 homes sold in the $1 million to $1.5 million price range (resulting in a low 2 month absorption rate for these homes–again, sellers of such homes find themselves in a favorable position).