The median price of a single-family home in Marin has fallen nearly 7% over the past year, even as the overall Bay Area real estate market has increased in value.
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 is up from August’s median price of $1.51 million.
Marin’s median price remains well below the $2 million threshold that it topped in April and May of last year. The median price is the point at which half of the homes sold for a higher price and half of the homes sold for a lower price.
There were 147 single-family home sales in the county last month, compared to 158 in September last year.
Marin’s condo and townhome market had a median price of $790,000 last month, compared with $875,000 last September, according to county data. Sales decreased from 61 in September 2022 to 45 last month.
Median single-family home prices in certain areas of Marin last month included $3.55 million with seven sales in Tiburon. Eight sales in Larkspur for $3.14 million. Seven sales in Mill Valley for $2.9 million. The county listed a median price of $13.5 million for Belvedere, which is based on one sale.
Other median prices in Marin for September include $2.33 million from three sales in Sausalito. Three sales in Ross for $2.2 million. Four sales in Corte Madera for $1.86 million. $1.7 million for four homes in Fairfax. 49 sales in unincorporated areas of the county for $1.6 million. 18 sales in San Rafael for $1.52 million. 12 sales in San Anselmo for $1.46 million. His 31 sales in Novato cost him $1.12 million.
The median single-family home price across the Bay Area last month was $1.3 million, up 6.6% from a year ago, the California Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Sales decreased by nearly 24% in one year.
Santa Clara County led the nine-county region in median year-over-year increase last month, rising 9% to $1.85 million, the association reports. Sonoma County’s median price rose 5.3% to $848,000.
Napa County saw the biggest decline, dropping nearly 11% to a median price of $890,000. San Francisco’s median price fell 4.2% to $1.58 million.
Rising interest rates continue to weigh on the market. The average weekly interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the U.S. as of Thursday was 7.63%, up from 7.57% the previous week, according to federally chartered mortgage company Freddie Mac. A year ago, the average was 6.94%.
“Home sales are being tested as mortgage rates rise to the highest levels not seen in more than 20 years, and may remain depressed for months to come,” said Jordan Levine, chief economist at the California Association of Realtors. “It’s very sexual,” he said. “The Fed plans to keep interest rates high for a long time, so borrowing costs will remain high and may not fall much in the near term. It will continue to hamper sales activity in the low and mid-range price ranges for the rest of the year.”
Mortgage interest rates are at the highest level in 23 years, and some would-be sellers are hesitant to trade in their homes, leading to tight supply.
“Inventory is extremely low here, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” said Jim Hamilton, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors and a Compass agent in Los Gatos.
Bay Area home sales fell 23.7% from September 2022 to last month. Nationally, existing home sales in 2023 are expected to reach their lowest level since 2011, when the U.S. was recovering from the 2007 housing market crash.
Properties aren’t on the market long: The average Bay Area home spent 14 days on the market in September, compared to 26 days a year ago.
Last year, some potential buyers chose to wait until interest rates fell, but that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“Some of my buyers have been waiting for interest rates to come down since last year, but unfortunately they’ve gone up since then,” said San Francisco real estate agent Jen Robles.
Ana Melnyk Bora, an agent with Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno in Santa Clara County, said sellers were also looking to sell when interest rates were falling, even though prices have rebounded in recent months. He is dissatisfied with not being able to trade at such high prices.
“Both buyers and sellers feel like they’ve gotten the short end of the stick,” she says.
Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.