The median price of a single-family home in Marin has dropped nearly 7% over the past year, even as overall values in the Bay Area property market have risen.
The median price last month was $1.65 million, down from $1.77 million in September 2022, according to new data released by the county assessor’s office. However, the price was up from August’s median of $1.51 million.
Marin’s median price remains well below the $2 million threshold it breached in April and May last year. The median price is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
In terms of sales volume, the county recorded 147 transactions for single-family homes last month, down from 158 in September.
In Marin’s condominium and townhome market, the median price last month was $790,000, compared to $875,000 the previous September, according to county data. The number of sales fell from 61 in September 2022 to 45 last month.
In specific parts of Marin, median prices for single-family homes last month included $3.55 million for seven sales in Tiburon, $3.14 million for eight sales in Larkspur and $2.9 million for seven sales in Mill Valley. The county recorded a median price of $13.5 million in Belvedere, but this was based on a single sale.
Other Marin medians for September included $2.33 million on three sales in Sausalito; $2.2 million on three sales in Ross; $1.86 million on four sales in Corte Madera; $1.7 million on four homes in Fairfax; $1.6 million on 49 sales in the unincorporated areas of the county; $1.52 million on 18 sales in San Rafael; $1.46 million on 12 sales in San Anselmo; and $1.12 million on 31 sales in Novato.
Across the Bay Area, the median price for a single-family home was $1.3 million last month, up 6.6% from a year ago, the California Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Sales are down nearly 24% over the year.
Santa Clara County led the nine-county region in year-over-year median price gains last month, rising 9% to $1.85 million, the association reported. The median price in Sonoma County rose 5.3% to $848,000.
Napa County had the steepest decline, falling nearly 11% to a median of $890,000. San Francisco’s median dropped 4.2% to $1.58 million.
Higher interest rates continue to weigh on the market. The U.S. weekly average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.63% on Thursday, up from 7.57% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage company. A year ago, the average was 6.94%.
“With mortgage rates rising to new highs not seen in more than two decades, home sales are being tested and are likely to remain tepid for the next few months,” said Jordan Levine, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. “With the Fed planning to keep interest rates higher for longer, borrowing costs will remain elevated and may not come down much in the near term. Housing affordability will continue to hinder sales activity for the remainder of the year, especially in the lower and middle price ranges.”
Mortgage rates, at their highest level in 23 years, have discouraged some would-be sellers from trading up their homes, keeping supply tight.
“We have an extreme lack of inventory here, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” said Jim Hamilton, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors and an agent with Compass in Los Gatos.
Bay Area home sales fell 23.7 per cent from September 2022 to last month. Nationwide, sales of previously owned homes in 2023 are expected to hit their lowest level since 2011, when the US was recovering from the 2007 housing market crash.
Homes aren’t sitting on the market for long: The average Bay Area home spent 14 days on the market in September, down from 26 days a year ago.
Some potential buyers last year opted to wait until interest rates dropped, but that is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“Some of my buyers have been waiting for rates to drop since last year, and unfortunately rates have gone up since then,” said Jen Robles, an agent in San Francisco.
Sellers, too, are complaining that while prices have rebounded in recent months, they haven’t been able to achieve the high prices they saw when rates were lower, said Ana Mernik Bohra, an agent with Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno in Santa Clara County.
“Both buyers and sellers feel like they’re getting the short end of the stick,” she said.
