November 2010

There are going to be some bumps in the road, and homeowners cannot expect any kind of discernible inflationary trend in home prices for a few years. Having said that, we all know that regardless of the market conditions, there sellers that have to sell and buyers that have to buy,  and there are some great opportunities out there.

From a seller's standpoint, what we know about the holidays is that January is traditionally the biggest month for transferees and re-location buyers and you need to make yourself available if you want to capture that market. We know buyers are also more emotional over the holidays, they are more serious, and they make quicker decisions, and they only see what is on the market at the time. In addition, as we said in our last

Currently there are 1480 homes on the market in Marin and 28% of those are pending. The inventory is going to drop further in December and yet buyers do come out and buy over the holidays, so the pending  percentage will go up as the number of available homes drops.  Under $1million there are 1002 homes of which 33% are in escrow. In the $1 -$2 million range there are 289 homes of which 22% are in escrow and over $2 million there are 193 homes,  and only 12% are in escrow. This disparity is typical of all of California where there is far more activity in the lower price range. What is interesting is that in the luxury home arena,  we are seeing easier qualifying for loans and several all-cash deals. There are some very qualified buyers in the higher price