Bay Area Real Estate Sales

Selling your house

Bay Area Real Estate Sales.com Newsletter

December 2007

IN THIS ISSUE:

Marin Home Sales Statistics

Belvedere Mansion Rumored To Be In Contract For $65 Million!

What Did Your Neighbors' House Sell For?

Search The Marin Multiple Listing Service For A New Marin Home

Pros, Cons Of Buying Home In Today's Market

Update On Liz's Micro Preemie Daughter

What Do Liz's Clients Say?

Fast Facts

MARIN HOME SALES STATISTICS

I hope this holiday season finds you and your family healthy and happy.

November sales of existing single-family homes in the nine-county region plummeted 39.4 percent, from 5,308 last year to 3,217 this year.

A major reason sales are sluggish despite falling prices in many regions is that it remains difficult to qualify for or afford jumbo loans, still necessary for average home shoppers in the pricey Bay Area. Since summer, when credit rules started getting stricter, fewer lenders are offering financing for more than the $417,000 conforming amount, and those that do are charging more or tightening lending standards. Buyers used jumbo loans for 44.1 percent of home purchases last month, compared with an average of 62 percent for the first seven months of the year, DataQuick said.

In Marin the story is slightly more robust than the majority of the SF Bay area, which is typical of our area which is a bit insulated from the downturn. Single Family Home sales for November in the 13 main cities that we track.

The same story this month as the last where Novato and San Rafael are the hardest hit areas relative to the rest of Marin. Condominiums in Novato have taken a 15-20 percent decline during 2007 and Single family homes about 10=12%. If you do not have to sell because of relocation or financial issues my recommendation is to hold on for the next 6 months.

I have not calculated the average days on market for this summary for one reason and one reason alone. The average days on market (DOM) per the Marin Multiple Listing Service (BAREIS) is NOT calculated correctly. It does not take into account a property that has been on the market with multiple brokers and those that have been removed for 30 days and then relisted. Once this is done it starts the days on market to ZERO. I will be doing an individual report on the actual DOM per community but it is very time intensive as the only way to accurately calculate the number is to look at the property history on each individual property. Since we have 659 single family homes on the market that will take a while. I promise to get you that information for the yearend report.

The median price for single-family, re-sale homes in Marin County was up 7.5% in November compared to last year. The average price was up 10.3%.

Home sales were flat in November at 137 units. Year-over-year, home sales were off 20.8%. Year-to-date, home sales are down 6.9%.

The median price for condos gained 6.0% to $600,000 from October, and it was up 20%, year-over-year. The average price rose 20.7% to $779,309, setting a new record high. Year-over-year, the average price was up 35.2%. Condo sales were up 16.7% from October, but were off 22.2% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are down 19.4%.

The sales price to list price ratio for single-family homes dropped 0.5 of a point to 97%. The condo ratio rose 0.3 of a point to 97.8%.

MARIN HOME (CONDO + SFR) SALES STATISTICS - BY CITY AS OF 12/18/07
City	Total	Active	Number in Contract***	Percent in Contract*	Type of Market* (See Key)
Belvedere	19	17	2	11%	Strong Buyers
Corte Madera	20	12	8	40%	Sellers
Fairfax	20	16	4	20%	Strong Buyers
Greenbrae	22	18	4	18%	Strong Buyers
Kentfield	15	12	3	20%	Strong Buyers
Larkspur	29	26	3	10%	Extreme Buyers
Mill Valley	75	51	24	32%	Balanced
Novato	299	267	32	11%	Strong Buyers
Ross	13	12	1	8%	Extreme Buyers
San Anselmo	42	25	17	40%	Sellers
San Rafael	211	177	34	16%	Strong Buyers
Sausalito	44	32	12	27%	Buyers
Tiburon	62	47	15	24%	Buyers
Others	61	45	16	26%	Buyers
Total Marin 12/18/07	932	757	175	18.78%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 11/17/07	1,146	904	242	21.12%	Buyers
Total Marin 10/15/07	1,251	1,043	208	16.63	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 9/18/07	1,232	1,043	187	15.18%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 8/15/07	1,190	951	239	20.8%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 7/15/07	1,252	969	283	22.60%	Buyers
Total Marin 6/16/07	1,325	1,003	322	24.30%	Buyers
Total Marin 5/16/07	1,286	948	338	26.28%	Buyers
Total Marin 4/15/07	1,108	793	315	28.43%	Buyers
Total Marin 3/15/07	966	688	278	28.78	Buyers
Total Marin 2/15/07	893	631	262	29.34%	Buyers
Total Marin 1/15/07	720	548	172	23.89%	Buyers
Total Marin 12/15/06	898	669	229	25.5%	Buyers
Total Marin 11/16/06	1,197	902	295	24.64%	Buyers
Total Marin 10/15/06	1,401	1,095	306	21.84%	Buyers
Total Marin 9/15/06	1,395	1,127	268	19.21%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 8/18/06	1,346	1,029	317	23.55%	Buyers
Total Marin 7/13/06	1392	1077	315	22.63%	Buyers
Total Marin 6/16/06	1323	959	364	27.51%	Buyers
Total Marin 5/18/06	1,177	817	360	31%	Balanced
Total Marin 4/10/06	977	629	348	36%	Sellers
Total Marin 3/15/06	894	597	297	33%	Balanced

MARIN HOME SALES STATISTICS - BY PRICE RANGE AS OF 12/18/07
Price	Total	Active	Number in Contract***	Percent in Contract*	Type of Market* (See Key)
$100,000-$499,999	168	146	22	13%	Strong Buyers
$500,000-$749,999	218	171	47	22%	Buyers
$750,000-$999,999	196	164	32	16%	Strong Buyers
$1,000,000-$1,499,999	144	118	26	18%	Strong Buyers
$1,500,000-$1,999,999	68	52	16	24%	Buyers
$2,000,000-$2,499,999	39	27	12	31%	Balanced
$2,500,000-$2,999,999	31	25	6	19%	Strong Buyers
$3,000,000-$3,999,999	29	21	8	28%	Buyers
Over $4,000,000	39	33	6	15%	Strong Buyers
Total Marin 12/18/07	932	757	175	19%	Strong Buyers

Key to market type:*
0% - 10% of Homes in Escrow: Extreme Buyers	36% - 45% of Homes in Escrow: Sellers
11% - 20% of Homes in Escrow: Strong Buyers	46% - 55% of Homes in Escrow: Strong Sellers
21% - 30% of Homes in Escrow: Buyers	56% - 100% of Homes in Escrow: Extreme Sellers
31% - 35% of Homes in Escrow: Balanced Market

**Based on information from Bay Area Real Estate Information Services, Inc. (BAREIS). Information has not been verified, is not guaranteed, and is subject to change and is based on one period of time."

***Includes all: Sale Pending & Contingent properties

Monthly Statistics

Complete monthly sales statistics for Marin County are below. Monthly graphs are available for each city in the county. Just email me!

November Sales Statistics
(Single-family Homes)
	Prices		Unit			Change from last year
	Median	Average	Sales	DOM	SP/LP	Median	Average	Sales
Marin	$1,000,000	$1,276,420	137	75	97.0%	7.5%	10.3%	-20.8%
Belvedere	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	1	14	100.0%	-11.6%	-11.6%	-50.0%
Corte Madera	$730,000	$858,000	4	43	98.3%	-15.5%	-14.8%	-50.0%
Fairfax	$880,000	$824,667	3	34	97.6%	-6.3%	-16.3%	-30.0%
Greenbrae	$1,139,225	$1,139,225	2	60	99.1%	-15.6%	-15.6%	0.0%
Kentfield	$1,446,584	$1,768,798	7	70	96.1%	9.3%	29.9%	75.0%
Larkspur	$1,542,500	$1,555,750	4	34	103.6%	27.0%	28.0%	100.0%
Mill Valley	$1,212,500	$1,505,583	24	62	97.9%	-7.1%	8.2%	-14.3%
Novato	$689,000	$729,447	25	106	96.6%	-9.0%	-14.1%	-37.5%
Ross	$1,260,000	$1,260,000	2	118	91.8%	-14.6%	-27.5%	-33.3%
San Anselmo	$839,500	$1,253,250	8	33	99.1%	-16.9%	10.0%	-50.0%
San Rafael	$942,000	$1,098,963	31	69	95.5%	7.0%	2.8%	-16.2%
Sausalito	$1,470,000	$1,905,000	7	52	96.0%	10.6%	18.1%	-22.2%
Tiburon	$1,811,500	$2,138,333	12	73	97.0%	-7.1%	7.0%	100.0%

November Sales Statistics
(Condos/Townhomes)
	Prices		Unit			Change from last year
	Median	Average	Sales	DOM	SP/LP	Median	Average	Sales
Marin	$600,000	$779,309	35	77	97.8%	20.0%	35.2%	-22.2%
Corte Madera	$482,500	$482,500	2	71	97.5%	-0.8%	-0.8%	0.0%
Greenbrae	$839,500	$774,500	4	19	100.0%	82.5%	59.5%	33.3%
Mill Valley	$480,000	$551,100	3	47	98.8%	-29.4%	-29.3%	-40.0%
Novato	$350,000	$399,611	9	101	95.4%	-25.1%	-16.8%	-40.0%
San Rafael	$524,000	$566,286	7	142	97.8%	17.8%	10.0%	-41.7%
Sausalito	$850,000	$1,249,667	3	14	100.0%	38.2%	103.2%	200.0%
Tiburon	$1,525,000	$1,464,286	7	58	97.1%	73.8%	42.7%	75.0%

The real estate market is very hard to generalize. It is a market made up of many micro markets. For complete information on a particular neighborhood or for an evaluation of your home's worth, call me. If I can help you devise a strategy, call or click the buying or selling link in the menu to the top.

I'm always searching for ways to bring my clients and readers more local real estate statistics. I'm pleased to announce the launch of my new Marin home Sales Statistics page. To view, go to: Marin Real Estate Statistics.

If you know of anyone who would like to receive this monthly newsletter or is thinking of either buying or selling a home please let me know. I'd love your referrals!

FREE...You can search for Marin listings directly on BayAreaRealEstateSales.com: Search for Homes

BELVEDERE MANSION RUMORED TO BE IN CONTRACT FOR $65 MILLION!

A mining magnate has signed a tentative deal to sell his historic Belvedere home for $65 million, an apparent record for Northern California. And the most amazing part - the buyers won't have to pay ANY property taxes!!

The 12,000-square-foot Blanding mansion at 440 Golden Gate Ave., which has 360-degree views of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island, sits on more than an acre.

The mansion was built in 1895 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has bronze gates designed by Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan, 15-foot-high ceilings in the foyer, a wraparound veranda with Corinthian columns, bronze sconces and teak decking on the southern, eastern and western exposures.

A home down the street sold for $11 million in 1999 - a Marin County record at the time.

The sellers, Mr. & Mrs. Friedland, 57, founded Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines, which has spent more than $400 million to develop a southern Mongolian discovery that could become one of the world's largest copper and gold mines, according to the Journal. Friedland and his wife, Darlene, spent nine years and more than $32 million renovating the house, which was bought for $5.5 million in 1995.

The record for a Northern California home is believed to be a $52.5 million sale in Woodside in 2000, according to published reports.

The new owners won't have to worry about a tax bill. Property taxes are waived because of the historic designation.

Read the entire story in the Marin IJ: http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_7775375

WHAT DID YOUR NEIGHBORS' HOUSE SELL FOR?

Are you Curious to know what the Median home price is in your neighborhood?

The Neighborhood Homes Sold listing is a weekly reader feature of the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle. The data posted here is typically recorded a few months after the property officially sold. This is the public data available in the published tax records. The home addresses, sales price, number of bedrooms, square footage and the year the homes were built are based on information supplied from Bay Area counties' property transaction records which, in some cases, may not be complete.
Previous editions of Neighborhood Homes Sold

Click on the following links to see what price homes sold for in your neighborhood:

Dec 16 Marin Home Sales

Dec 09 Marin Home Sales

Dec 02 Marin Home Sales

Nov 25 Marin Home Sales

FREE...You can search for Marin listings directly on BayAreaRealEstateSales.com: Search for Homes

SEARCH THE MARIN MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE FOR A NEW MARIN HOME

The following links will take you to home searches for different cities in Marin.
All search results are displayed from the highest price to the lowest price. You can scroll through pages at a time.

Belvedere homes for sale: Belvedere Homes For Sale
Corte Madera homes for sale: Corte Madera Homes For Sale
Fairfax homes for Sale: Fairfax Homes For Sale
Greenbrae homes for sale: Greenbrae Homes For Sale
Kentfield homes for sale: Kentfield Homes For Sale
Larkspur homes for sale: Larkspur Homes For Sale
Mill Valley homes for sale: Mill Valley Homes For Sale
Novato homes for Sale: Novato Homes For Sale
Ross homes for sale: Ross Homes For Sale
San Anselmo homes for sale: San Anselmo Homes For Sale
San Rafael HOMES for sale: San Rafael Homes For Sale
San Rafael CONDOS for sale: San Rafael Condos For Sale
Sausalito homes for sale: Sausalito Homes For Sale
Tiburon homes for sale: Tiburon Homes For Sale

PROS, CONS OF BUYING HOME IN TODAY'S MARKET

By Diane Hymer

When the housing market slows down, buyers often wait on the sidelines for a clear sign that the market has recovered. The only problem with this strategy is that you can only know for sure that a market has turned through hindsight. In other words, you can't time the market.

A slow market is perceived as an opportunity by some buyers, as it takes longer for listings to sell. The inventory of unsold listings tends to grow, giving buyers more choice than is the case in a hot seller's market when listings sell quickly. In a high-inventory market, there are usually fewer multiple offers so buyers can cut a better deal with the seller. However, it pays to be careful about what you buy and how you finance the purchase.

HOUSE HUNTING TIP: The least expensive home in an area may not be the best investment. Unless you are a contractor with years of experience fixing up properties, you should hire the best inspectors you can find to look carefully at the condition of a property before you buy. Many home buyers, particular first-timers, don't give enough attention to the cost of maintaining a home. Home maintenance is a necessary part of home ownership. It can be expensive, particularly if you need to hire others to do the work.

Some homes require more maintenance than others. A good inspector should be able to give you a good indication about how much work a home needs now and how much it will need on an ongoing basis. Buying a well-maintained home that will also have relatively low ongoing maintenance is one way to keep your overall housing costs down.

Inexperienced home buyers should resist buying a fixer-upper just because it's offered at a cheap price for the neighborhood. It's difficult to get a firm grasp on renovation costs during the inspection contingency period, particularly if it's a big job.

Remodeling projects can run over budget because of unanticipated problems like faulty electrical or plumbing, or an old furnace that goes bad. Or the city inspector could require that you do additional work to correct non-code-complying improvements done by previous owners. These sorts of costs can mount up so that you end up with far more invested in the property than it's worth on the market.

Try to avoid buying a home that has an incurable defect. This is something that you can't change, like a location next to a freeway. These homes don't hold their value well when the housing market softens.

A risk of buying in a slow market is that the value of what you buy might drop before it rises. Or, prices could stay flat for some time, which means that you won't build equity unless you pay down principal on your mortgage. If you should have to move during a time when prices are soft, you might not be able to sell for the amount you paid. To decrease this risk factor, don't buy for the short term.

Give careful consideration to how you finance your purchase. Stay away from mortgages that have short due dates and balloon payments. If the market in your area stays soft for longer than anticipated, you don't want to be caught having to refinance at a time when your home might not appraise for the price you need to complete the transaction.

THE CLOSING: A benefit of buying in a soft market is that you have the opportunity to buy at a reasonable price, without having to compete with other buyers. But, it makes no sense if you put yourself at financial risk.

FREE...You can search for Marin listings directly on BayAreaRealEstateSales.com: Search for Homes

UPDATE ON LIZ'S MICRO PREEMIE DAUGHTER

Many of my readers know that I gave birth to micro preemie twins in October of 2005. My daughters Corinne weighed 1 pound 11 ounces, and Kaitlyn weighed 1 pound 10 ounces. Sadly, our first born daughter, Corinne passed away in my arms. Our surviving, miracle daughter is doing really well especially considering how sick she was.

Kaitlyn turned 2 in October this year, although, technically she really won't be 2 until January 4 which was her due date. (Developmentally, she is still being tracked according to her due date.) We feel so touched and blessed to have our little miracle in our lives.

It's hard to believe that our daughter who weighed 1 pound, 10 ounces at birth is now almost 24 pounds and 33 inches tall. She's doing amazingly well for how sick she was. She is walking (and running) all over the place. It's very cute when she tries to jump, but can't get off her tippy toes.

She's incredibly good-natured, and is starting to smile a lot more. She has the sweetest personality. She rarely gets upset, unless mom leaves. Sadly, dad isn't very happy about that, but we think it's a good thing that Kaitlyn finally bonded, as if you remember, her first year she never once smiled and avoided looking at us. (It's helped that she got glasses in the beginning of the year and loves them!)

Kaitlyn also has been talking now for a number of months. Her voice is either very quiet/sweet sounding or raspy, as her left vocal chord is paralyzed (permanently). We were so ecstatic once we finally heard her sweet voice. And it is very sweet! .. (continued on my blog)

I started blogging their story while I was pregnant, and to date over 150,000 viewers have visited my blog. Kaitlyn has an amazing fan base all over the world. I found so much support from other micro preemie parents, that I started a support group for children weighing under 2 pounds. I now have over 185 members from all over the world.

If you would like to read the most recent update and see pictures of Kaitlyn's, just go to my blog, which is:

McCarthy Micropreemie Blog

WHAT DO LIZ'S CLIENTS SAY?

"When Martin and I got pregnant and knew we needed to move off of our houseboat, we weren't sure we wanted to list with a real estate agent. But after talking with you and comparing your services to other options out there, we decided to give it a go. As you know, we couldn't have been happier with the results!

We appreciated your support in guiding us through the steps we needed to take to get our home ready to sell so that we could get the best return on it. You gave us excellent advice and helped us stay on schedule. We were amazed to have multiple offers on our home within 2 weeks of listing it, especially because the majority of houseboats are on the market more than a few months. Plus, houseboats rarely sell at or above asking price, as ours did. We definitely feel that the website you built, the marketing you did, and the choices that you helped us make directly impacted the easy and profitable sale of our home! We were thrilled.

And then your guidance and patience as we went about purchasing a home again were beyond what we could have expected! It was a truly amazing experience. You were so obviously out for our best interests, as opposed to just looking to close a deal. You gave us wonderful, thoughtful and educated information and advice, and this helped prevent us from buying the wrong home just because we felt rushed by our timeline. You also introduced us to the best vendors, from inspectors to mortgage services, and this created ease in a process that could otherwise be so difficult.

We absolutely love the home that we ended up buying, and we attribute this largely to your involvement. That you took the time not just to help us get the right deal but also to help us make the right choice for us, based on where we are at in our lives and the items we had delineated as most important to us, is so appreciated. From the moment we began working with you, we were impressed with the constant integrity, dedication and patience that you exhibited. It was empowering to have you on our team for this major process in our lives.

We absolutely recommend your services to everyone we meet. We can't imagine having a better experience with a realtor. We truly feel blessed to have worked with you!

With gratitude,"

-Traci and Martin Orimenko

If you would like to have Liz help you sell your Marin home or help you find a home, or you know of someone that could benefit from her services, just send her an email: liz@BayAreaRealEstateSales.com or give her a call: 415-250-4929

"High-Touch through High-Tech": Did you know that Liz McCarthy is ePro Internet Certified by the National Association of Realtors and that 70 percent of home buyers today use the internet in their home search? Why are you still working with a Realtor who isn't a technology expert?

What this means to you:

Home Buyers: Liz is an expert in helping save you time by using the internet, email and other technology resources to help save your valuable time and money. She knows how busy you are!

Home Sellers: Liz will hire a professional photographer and market your home extensively on the internet: a personal property website (see www.417Greenfield.com or www.50milland.com for samples), she will post your home on over 50 websites.

FAST FACTS

Marin median SFR + condo price- Nov 07: $892,500 2006: $864,000 [Source: BAREIS]

Marin average SFR + condo price-: Nov 07: $1,175,000; 2006: $1,089,129 [Source: BAREIS]

Marin median SFR home price - Nov 07: $1,000 ,000; 2006: $956,000 [Source: BAREIS]

Marin median condo price - Nov 07: $600,000; 2006: $548,000 [Source: BAREIS]

Calif. median home price -Oct 07: $497,110 [Source: C.A.R.]

Calif. highest median home price Oct 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,325,000 [Source: C.A.R.]

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region Oct 07: High Desert $265,880 [Source: C.A.R.]

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - 3^rd Quarter 07: 24 percent [Source: C.A.R.]

Mortgage rates - week ending 12/13/07: (Source: Freddie Mac)

· 30-yr. fixed: 6.11%; Fees/points: 0.5%

· 15-yr. fixed: 5.78%; Fees/points: 0.5%

· 1-yr. adjustable: 5.46%; Fees/points: 0.6% (as of 11/8/07)

FREE...You can search for Marin listings directly on BayAreaRealEstateSales.com: Search for Homes

Be sure to check out all the other great content & features of my website:

www.BayAreaRealEstateSales.com

The Bay Area Real Estate Newsletter is provided to you by:

Liz McCarthy

"High-Touch through "High-Tech"

Real Estate Broker, e-PRO certified

Vision Real Estate

Liz@BayAreaRealEstateSales.com

415-250-4929

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