The venerable NYT made it official yesterday – this is the worst real estate market since the Great Flood. Sales are spiraling down, prices are cratering nationwide. Can another recession dip be far off? Yahoo echoes the vibe today, and if you really want to get a look at the dark inner workings of the American mind, scroll down to the accompanying comments. All 45,000 of them, as of this writing. Yeck!
We don’t know where they get their numbers, but let’s assume that they’re accurate for the U.S. as a whole. But wait! Last time we looked, real estate was still a local business. This is not Tampa or Las Vegas, after all. Or is it?
We checked the MLS, our private site where brokers share all listing and sales data, and compared Marin sales year on year for July. Included are all condo and single-family home sales above $50k, to avoid getting rental data. Results below.
- Compared: July ’09 and July ’10
We’ve actually sold a few more homes, for about nine percent more than July a year ago. While these numbers are far lower than the high flying days of 2006, say, we think they reflect a more or less normal market. Healthy, even. And in July this year, 25% sold in the first 30 days they were listed, as compared to 15% in July of ’09, indicating stronger demand coupled with more realistic pricing.
And remember, buyers rushed to close escrow before june 30 to take advantage of the Federal Tax Credit, so homes that normally would have closed in July were squeezed into June.
If you want specific information about your home or neighborhood, give me a shout. And don’t believe everything you see in the news.
Jack, You are on a roll today! And I appreciate your comments. And like the flavor free of some of the more mainstream waxy after taste
I am a long time admirer of this area and have watched this market for the last 25 years….
I am home very late from a full day of work…and a significant percentage of my loan transactions are for purchases….a more than enthusiastic number of people want to buy a home in this beautiful Marin…maybe many of these folks fEel like Biz Stone, co founder of twitter – (right?) Featured in this past month’s Marin magazine…after living in a number of places in the Bay Area, he and wife felt Marin was the most ideal place to live
Fortuitous for our buyers…we have the “local” market strength… AND incredibly low fixed rates to participate in this amamzing real estate investment climate….now how do I share your article….you are so much better at all this media ~ Laura
“waxy after taste” – crack me up! Look for that in my next post, Laura.
You’re right, the fundamentals here guarantee a steady demand to live here, at least so far.
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