About Marin County, CA

Homes for Sale in Novato

This report looks at Homes for Sale in Novato California. In past months I have divided this report up between properties over and under $750,000.00 to exam the top and bottom of the market. This month I thought I would look at the FHA purchase limits to come up with a break. With a minimum 3.5% down payment the purchase cap in Marin County would be $756,217.00 so it is really a moot issue as this is about where we had the break anyway.

Right now there are 143 Homes for Sale in Novato priced from $109,900 to $6,250,000.00. The average price is $756,386.00 and a median price of $669,000.00. The average size is 2,272 SF and the median size is 1,925.00.

There are 86 Novato Homes for Sale under $756,217.00 with an average price of $467,592.00 and a median price of $475,000.00. The average size is 1,627 SF and the median size is 1,523 SF.

There are 57 Homes for Sale in Novato over $756,217.00 with an average price of $1,214,714.00 and a median price of $949,000.00. The average size is 3,270 SF and the median size is 3,163 SF.

In January the sold Homes for Sale in Novato was down. This is probably due to the holidays. The homes sold in January for the the most part would have gone into escrow in November and December. In January 39 Homes for Sale in Novato sold with an average price of $552,726.00 and a median price of $425,000.00. The average size was 1,584 SF and the median size was 1,491 SF.

Looking at Homes for Sale in Novato that sold in January for under $756,217.00 there were 37 with average price of $422,792.00 and a median price of $425,000.00. The average size was 1,584 SF and the median size was 1,491 SF. Compared to Novato Homes for Sale over $756,217.00 only 2 sold for $900,000.00 and $1,150,000.00, for an average/median price of $1,025,000.00. The size of these 2 homes was 3,089 and 4,461 Sf for an average/median of 3,375 SF.

In December Homes for Sale in Novato had moved faster with 58 sales and an average price of $543,566.00 and a median price of $538,000.00. The average size was 1,974 SF and the median size was 1,859 SF.

Forty-eight Novato Homes for Sale under $756,217.00 sold in December with an average price of $459,975.00 and a median price of $480,000.00. The homes had an average size of 1,667 SF with a median size of 1,653 SF. Ten homes over $756,217.00 sold for an average price of $944,800.00 and a median price of $927,500.00. Of those ten homes the average size was 3,447 SF and a median size of 3,483 SF.

On the surface it appears prices are trending down, but so are the size of the homes sold. Sales should pick up with spring and when the weather gets better. Larger homes will be the best buys on the market in the coming year.

Contact me directly for information on Novato Homes for Sale or click here to see the best buy on Homes for Sale in Novato.

One of the benefits of being a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (if you need help selling your Marin, California home, call or text me: 415-350-9440) is access to the peerless analysis provided by the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. Below is some information pulled from an article published a few days ago on their blog describing the luxury market in California, using 2006 as a baseline.

In 2006, 1 in 9 sales in California were over $1 million dollars. In 2009, that number fell to 1 in 25. About 29% of these buyers paid all cash. Meanwhile, in 2009, 4,925 notices of default (step one in a foreclosure) were recorded on million dollar homes.

In terms of 2009 sales (per DataQuick):

• 332 sales over $5 million
• 228 sales from $4 million to $5 million
• 590 sales from $3 million to $4 million
• 1,902 sales from $2 million to $3 million
• 15,569 sales from $1 million and $2 million

DataQuick reported a median square footage of 2,646, with four beds and three baths, and a median price per square foot of $605 (down 10% from 2008). Does anybody else feel like we have hit slack tide?

The front page of Marin Independent Journal Sunday paper features a family in San Rafael that I had helped to purchase their home for 30% less than what the original owner paid in 2005 when it was built. This story puts a personal face to the statistics that were the impetus for the article -- Marin County Homes prices over the past decade.

The sub-heading of the article says "While homeowners , buyers and sellers have endured extreme ups and downs in the market, housing prices are mostly what they were 10 years ago." I think this is misleading, since the statistics themselves show that the median price of a single family home in Marin was $750,000 in 2009 vs $599,000 in 2000, which by my calculation is a 25% increase! And as I point out where quoted, "the high number of sales of distressed properties has sent the median price in many markets plummeting far below the actual property values in those areas." I was trying to get the point across that when the mix of sales tilts as it has recently where most of the homes that are selling are those in the lower price range, that brings the median price down overall, whereas it may not have changed much for a particular home or for homes in a particular price segment.

Still, the article does supply the numbers for the past 10 years, by town, which is interesting in itself. To read the article, go to:

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_14351622?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com.

Peter Nielsen, Area Pro Realty - Bay Area Villas, Peter@MarinRealtyExperts.com.

In 2009 the Marin Luxury Homes market had 128 homes that Sold over two million dollars compared to 222 in 2008, and 288 in 2007. In the chart below are twenty of Marin’s most expensive home sales for 2009. If you'd like more details on any of these properties, contact me at MDLomas@gmail.com or 415-789-7777

An email is circulating around Marin County right now that clearly misrepresents that Company's position in Tiburon real estate sales, and listings. This company has skewered the statistic to such a degree it would appear they're the leading real estate company in Tiburon? This company's advertising practices has landed them before various Grievance Committees at the Marin Association of Realtors in the past. And,because the Marin Association of Realtors has no means to reign in this kind of bad behavior, it reflects poorly on all us who practice real estate here in Marin. Disengenuous, deceptive, and dishonest Advertising is a Violation of the Code of Ethics. The problem is, without hiring an attorney, there's no way to enforce the Code? It truly is a sad state of affairs, and hence, has rendered the Marin Association of Realtors as an ineffective Association.

Here are the real stats for real estate in Tiburon.