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Health & Fitness

'Tis the Season and Reasons to Buy or Sell Now

Mill Valley Real Estate Update as of January 5th, 2012

Happy New Year! Real estate buyers in December continued their search for the perfect home; the combination of low interest rates and all time low home prices has kept home sales going, especially under $800,000. The end-of-year real estate market was turbulent as it tried to find some stability. In addition, world events affect the stock market and in turn the real estate market.

Marin and the Bay Area continue to be stronger than other areas in the state.
Inventory levels in the past few months have dropped, as unrealistic sellers take their homes off the market and buyers continue to nibble away at foreclosures and short sales. At the moment, there are approximately 554 homes listed in Marin.

With that said, buyers have been occupying Sunday open houses in full force and properties are receiving multiple offers. For instance, I listed a home in Mill Valley for $850,000 – pristine condition, three bedrooms, two baths, separate home office, two car garage, a good commute. At the first Sunday open house, I lost track after about 15 groups came through. Within two days, there were three offers, all over the asking price! The house is now pending and ready to close next month.

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The other piece of this story reflects the fact that my sellers were able to make an accepted contingent offer on their “dream house” subject to the sale of their home. We did it with the right combination of pricing and a home that was in good condition. So the moral of the story for buyers is with bank-owned properties, short sales and foreclosures, this is the perfect time to pull your resources together and purchase a home or investment property.

Another incentive for buyers is that rental prices have skyrocketed to all-time highs as home prices have taken a plunge. I believe 2012 will see the pent up demand theory become reality. As sellers begin to see prices are not going back up in the near term, they will become more realistic in pricing. While no one underestimates the pain and destruction caused by the bursting of the housing bubble, it has had one positive effect: Across a wide range of measures, it has left the U.S. with its cheapest housing market in years.

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If you’re a seller who doesn’t want to “occupy” your home anymore, it’s an ideal time to transition from one home or another; to scale up or down. While your primary residence may not sell for as much as it would have several years ago, you’ll be gaining appreciation through purchasing at this time. With interest rates at an all-time low, the advantage is a lower loan and payments. The other reason it's a good time to sell now is less competition. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas there’s a seasonal trend of fewer homes on the market; traditionally both sellers and buyers focus on the holidays. Inventory tends to start picking up mid-February to early March… The sooner you’re on the market, the better.

Mill Valley’s trends as of January 2nd, 2012:

  • Active Listings: 52
  • Price Per Square Foot: $526
  • Average Square Footage: 2,287
  • DOM (Days on Market): 108/150
  • Original List Price: $1,236,052
  • Contingent Sales: 15
  • Pending Sales: 10
  • Sold in the Past 6 Months: 156 (or 26/month)
  • Off the Market or Expired/Withdrawn: 124 in the Past 6 Months
  • Least Expensive: $209,900
  • Most Expensive: $4,995,000

This Week

The median list price in Mill Valley this week is $1,180,000. Inventory is tightening and days-on-market is falling. The Market Action Index shows demand heating up. These are relatively bullish signs for prices. See charts at right for more details.

There are more good reasons than not to buy or sell in this market. The most
significant is the low interest rates, which translates into purchasing power.

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