Mill Valley Real Estate Report (October 2011 Home Sales Update) | Pacific Union International

September 2011 home sales in Mill Valley dipped to just 21 trades (this is reflective of the traditional slowdown related to Summer — e.g., because few homes go into escrow in August, there are few closings in September). These properties sold for an average price of $1.246 million and averaged 2,344 sq. ft. (or about $539 per sq. ft.).  Pricing remains the key ingredient determining buyer interest levels and salability. Buyers continue to insist on readily apparent and undeniable value. If they don’t see it in a property, they are willing to wait it out. The number of listings actively on the market in the MLS has decreased to 83 homes. This is extraordinarily low inventory even for this time of year.

The percentage of homes in escrow are:

• Under $800,ooo — 48%
• $800,000 to $1 million — 19%
• $1 million to $1.5 million — 25%
• $1.5 million to $2 million — 13%
• Above $2 million — 14%

Listings in Sycamore Park, Boyle Park, and Tam Valley generated the most calls this month. Well-priced homes continue to generate multiple offers.

If you would like more information about neighborhoods, sales, schools, or local Mill Valley services references, just give me a call at (415) 350-9440 or e-mail me at Kyle@MillValley101.com. I currently have several clients who want to sell, but are waiting in the wings for Spring 2012. Please contact me to determine if any of these opportunities fit your needs. I am also a member of the Top Agent Network and Marin Platinum Group with access to dozens of homes not “officially” on the market but available for sale.

If you would like my Mill Valley Hot List, e-mail me. It is always my pleasure to be of service. Christie’s International Real Estate | Pacific Union International Mill Valley, CA.

Mill Valley Real Estate Report (September 2011 Home Sales Update) | Pacific Union International

August 2011 home sales in Mill Valley rose to 37 trades (pretty strong number considering the Summer is normally very slow for Marin County real estate)). These properties sold for an average price of $1.229 million and averaged 2,328 sq. ft. (or about $530 per sq. ft.).  Pricing remains the key ingredient determining buyer interest levels and salability. Buyers continue to insist on readily apparent and undeniable value. If they don’t see it in a property, they are willing to wait it out.

The number of listings actively on the market in the MLS has increased as we enter the slower Summer season to 106. The percentage of homes in escrow:

• Under $800,ooo — 43%
• $800,000 to $1 million — 31%
• $1 million to $1.5 million — 37%
• $1.5 million to $2 million — 11%
• Above $2 million — 19%

Listings in Strawberry, Boyle Park, Middle Ridge, and Homestead Valley generated the most calls this month. Well priced homes continue to generate multiple offers.

If you would like more information about neighborhoods, sales, schools, or local Mill Valley services references, just give me a call at (415) 350-9440 or e-mail me at Kyle@MillValley101.com. I currently have several clients who want to sell, but are waiting in the wings for Spring 2011. Please contact me to determine if any of these opportunities fit your needs. I am also a member of the Top Agent Network and Marin Platinum Group with access to dozens of homes not “officially” on the market but available for sale.

If you would like my Mill Valley Hot List, e-mail me. It is always my pleasure to be of service. Christie’s Great Estates | Pacific Union International Mill Valley, CA.

Mill Valley Real Estate Report (Pacific Union July 2011 Home Sales Update)

June 2011 home sales in Mill Valley rose to 35 trades (up from 28 in May). These properties sold for an average price of $1.245 million and averaged 2,365 sq. ft. (or about $547 per sq. ft.).  Pricing remains the key ingredient determining buyer interest. Buyers insist on apparent and undeniable value. If they don’t see it in a property, they are willing to wait it out.

The number of listings actively on the market in the MLS has increased as we enter the slower Summer season to 106. The percentage of homes in escrow:

• Under $800,ooo — 35%
• $800,000 to $1 million — 29%
• $1 million to $1.5 million — 22%
• $1.5 million to $2 million — 22%
• Above $2 million — 10%

Listings in Strawberry, Boyle Park and Homestead Valley generated the most calls this month. Well priced homes continue to generate multiple offers.

If you would like more information about neighborhoods, sales, schools, or local Mill Valley services references, just give me a call at (415) 350-9440 or e-mail me at Kyle@MillValley101.com. I currently have several clients who want to sell, but are waiting in the wings for Spring 2011. Please contact me to determine if any of these opportunities fit your needs. I am also a member of the Top Agent Network and Marin Platinum Group with access to dozens of homes not “officially” on the market but available for sale.

If you would like my Mill Valley Hot List, e-mail me. It is always my pleasure to be of service. Christie’s Great Estates | Pacific Union International Mill Valley, CA.

Mill Valley Real Estate Report (Pacific Union June 2011 Home Sales Update)

May 2011 home sales in Mill Valley held steady with 28 trades (up from 13 in January!). These properties sold for an average price of $1.058 million and averaged 1,952 sq. ft. (or about $552 per sq. ft.).  Pricing remains the key ingredient determining buyer interest. Buyers insist on apparent and undeniable value. If they don’t see it in a property, they are willing to wait it out. Now, more than ever, is the time for sellers to be very careful about who they have negotiating for them — poor negotiating by “say anything” agents can result in losses of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The number of listings actively on the market in the MLS has increased as we enter the slower Summer season to 122. The percentage of homes in escrow:

• Under $800,ooo — 39%
• $800,000 to $1 million — 30%
• $1 million to $1.5 million — 25%
• $1.5 million to $2 million — 24%
• Above $2 million — 4%

Listings in Strawberry, Boyle Park and Homestead Valley generated the most calls this month. Well priced homes continue to generate multiple offers.

If you would like more information about neighborhoods, sales, schools, or local Mill Valley services references, just give me a call at (415) 350-9440 or e-mail me at Kyle@MillValley101.com. I currently have several clients who want to sell, but are waiting in the wings for Spring 2011. Please contact me to determine if any of these opportunities fit your needs. I am also a member of the Top Agent Network and Marin Platinum Group with access to dozens of homes not “officially” on the market but available for sale.

If you would like my Mill Valley Hot List, e-mail me. It is always my pleasure to be of service. Christie’s Great Estates | Pacific Union International Mill Valley, CA.

Mill Valley CA. Real Estate Market Report (October 2009 Home Sales Update)

The good new is that it seems the media has turned a corner on its reporting of the U.S. and worldwide economies, as well as the housing market. Positive press coverage has permeated all forms of media and is certain to change the tide, although it will take time. Significantly, San Francisco agents are reporting a significant surge in sales and prices. We know from past experience, that once San Francisco recovers, surrounding communities recover in a geo-concentrically expanding fashion.

Yet, the Mill Valley, CA. real estate market continues to limp along, offering hope of recovery, but not fully reaching the plateau (or nadir, as it were). Pardon the inevitable mixed metaphors, but it seems the real estate market is like an elite athlete with an ankle sprain, constantly at risk of further injury or re-aggravation. Our low expectations for September were fulfilled as we had just 21 home sales — same as in July and August 2009.

While is seemed that prices had gathered traction after a slippery first half of the year, last month’s price per square foot of homes sold dipped to $529 — note that the graph below tracks asking prices and the average price per square foot for homes on the market is holding steady at about $615. We have been waiting to see whether this flattening out of asking prices would carry over into the sales prices of homes trading this Fall and Winter and it appears the answer in “no.”

Based on last month’s sales total of 21, we currently have an overall inventory of homes sufficient to last a bit more than 5.67 months (virtually the same as August 2009) — this is called the absorption rate. This is still a HUGE reduction from the absorption rate from May 2009, which stood at well over 8 months. The number of homes in escrow is also virtually the same as last month. We think there are many real buyers out there who have been waiting for “a sign” to buy — we don’t know what that sign will be (there are likely to be many “signs”), but we feel it will likely come soon.

As with Marin overall, the most active segment is the sub $1 million price bands, which can be characterized as neutral markets, favoring neither buyers nor sellers. Well over half of last month’s sales were under $1 million. The number of “bread and butter” homes (those priced between $1 million to $2 million) currently in escrow is up from last month to about 20%. Meanwhile, the luxury market in Mill Valley (homes from $2 million and up) saw strong activity last month (5 sales) — and another 9 such homes are in escrow.

Homes in Tam Valley, Scott Valley, Sycamore Park, and Country Club generated the most calls this month. If you would like more information about neighborhoods, sales, schools, or local Mill Valley services references, just give me a call at (415) 350-9440 or e-mail me at Kyle@MillValley101.com.

p.s. I currently have several clients who want to be sellers, but are waiting in the wings. Please contact me to determine if any of these opportunities fit your needs. If you would like my Mill Valley Hot List, call or e-mail me: (415) 350-9440 | Kyle@MillValley101.com. It is always my pleasure to be of service. Christie’s Great Estates | Morgan Lane Marin and Pacific Union International.

Mill Valley CA. Real Estate Market Report (July 2009 Home Sales Update)

Mill Valley CA. Real Estate Market Report (June 2009 Home Sales Update)

Mill Valley CA. Real Estate Market Report (May 2009 Home Sales Update)

We are consistently asked by our clients (sellers), “when will our markets return to normal?” We formed our definition of a normal Marin County market in our Q3 2008 Luxury Newsletter (call us for a copy) only to be followed by the October ’08 stock market meltdown. A normal Mill Valley market over the past ten years has been an annual average of 377 single family homes sold (31 per month). For the past six months the total has been 78 (16 per month). The number of units sold is off roughly 50%. Without closings we have limited comparables to make investment decisions. We are all looking for recent closings to benchmark property values. In the stock market we know CitiGroup Inc. will not soon return to its September 2008 value of $25 per share. In turn, we do not expect Mill Valley real estate to return to early – mid 2008 values. The question is what will the going forward adjustment be? To address “the adjustment” we need to focus neighborhood-by-neighborhood and client-by-client. It is our feeling that Mill Valley, CA closings in December 2008 – April 2009 represent comparables based on sellers that had to sell, and quickly, or sellers that thought the market would fall faster in the Spring ’09 and elected to set the comparables vs. having them used against them.

Mill Valley Real Estate Market Report (January 2009 Home Sales Update)

Entering the new year, there is optimism that the Mill Valley, California real estate market will gather traction following the slowdown of late 2008. I suspect that the “undercover buyers” who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the “right time” to buy will make their move as new inventory hits the market and old inventory prices recalibrate (downwards). Although many buyers still believe prices may slip a bit more, many of them also appreciate the fact that interest rates have never, ever been lower (this was the 4th week in a row with record low rates)–these rates are not likely to last. Mortgage math punishes those who don’t lock in at the lowest rate possible–even if prices dipped 5%, if interest rates went up 1-point, the monthly payment would in many cases be higher. In light of the once in a lifetime low rates, surprisingly low prices, and the wide variety of home choices, I anticipate an up-tick in activity. Also, those who were fortunate enough to receive a year end bonus for 2008 (I know that quite a few San Francisco companies and law firms handed out their regular bonuses) are set to move forward on their purchases.

In a reversal from the past quarter, the percentage of homes in escrow under $800,000 rose to 38% (it had been as low as 15% in November) with an absorption rate of 7 months (e.g., a 7-month supply of homes). Overall, Mill Valley inventory dipped to 74 homes for sale. Just 7 “bead and butter” homes (those priced between $1 million to $2 million) are currently under contract. Meanwhile, the luxury market in Mill Valley (homes from $2 million and up) continues hibernating–a mere one luxury home has an accepted offer in place.

As for sales, we had 10 Mill Valley home sales close escrow in December 2008 (there were 14 in November 2008). They averaged 127 days on the market and sold for an average price of about $917,000 with about 1,890 sq. ft. (or about $493 per sq. ft). The numbers from December reflect the fact that 7 of the 10 sales were priced under $1 million (in Mill Valley, these are generally entry level homes).

Homes in Boyle Park and Sycamore Park continue to be in low supply and high demand. If you would like more information about neighborhoods, sales, schools, or local Mill Valley services references, just give me a call at (415) 350-9440 or e-mail me at Kyle@MillValley101.com. It is always my pleasure to be of service.

Mill Valley Real Estate Market Report (November 2008 Home Sales Update)

Homes in Boyle Park, Middle Ridge, Almonte, and Cascade Canyon continue to be in low supply and high demand. If you would like more information, just give me a call at (415) 350-9440 or e-mail me at Kyle@MillValley101.com. It is always my pleasure to be of service.

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