Marin County median home price at $1.7 million as sellers remain scarce

The median price for a detached home in Marin County wobbled to $1.7 million last month, about the same level it was six months ago and about 20% lower than the prior year.

The figure is based on the latest data released by the county’s assessor’s office, which logged 157 sales of detached homes last month. By comparison, 254 detached homes sold the previous April.

The median price in April 2022 was $2.12 million, a peak for the county before the monthly figure fell as low as $1.5 million.

“We’re still seeing a lack of inventory,” said Arun Burrell, a 20-year agent whose office is in San Rafael. “That’s been our consistent issue this year.”

Burrell represented the sellers in a deal last month right at the $1.7 million median, for a three-bedroom home on Oak Avenue in the seminary neighborhood of San Anselmo. The property was listed at $1.65 million.

Burrell said 28 agents quickly asked for disclosure packets and three made offers. The winning bid was by a family moving from San Francisco.

Burrell said he’s heard various theories for the continuing drag in sales volume — bank collapses, the federal debt-ceiling crisis, the rain.

“I think we’re going to bump along with the low inventory for a while,” he said. “We’re moving into a time of the year that tends to slow down anyway.”

The median price is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less. In specific areas of Marin, median prices for detached homes last month included $3.8 million on two sales in Belvedere; $3.36 million on four sales in Larkspur; and $3.1 million on 12 sales in Mill Valley.

Other median prices included $2.7 million on 10 sales in Tiburon; $2.1 million on four sales in Sausalito; $1.85 million on 49 sales in the unincorporated areas of the county; $1.82 million on eight sales in Corte Madera; $1.64 million on 32 sales in San Rafael; $1.33 million on nine sales in San Anselmo; $1.33 million on five sales in Fairfax; and $1.18 million on 22 sales in Novato.

No homes sold in Ross in April.

In the Marin condo and townhome market, the median price last month was $749,000 on 69 sales, according to the assessor’s office. The prior April, it was $850,000 on 79 sales.

Median prices for condos and townhomes in the county last month ranged from a low of $547,500 in San Rafael to a high of $2.63 million in San Anselmo. The elevated San Anselmo figure stems from the sale of three new four-bedroom townhomes on Ross Avenue. All three sold for about $2.6 million each.

Jeanette Cling, a Coldwell Banker Realty agent, represented a couple who bought one of the townhomes after renting in Larkspur. She said they were initially looking for a detached residence, but they found that the townhome met their criteria.

“They did not want a home that needs remodeling work, upfront work or a lot of maintenance,” she said. “That really lends itself to newer construction. And they wanted a walk-to-town location. They were looking at Larkspur, and the prices were getting close to $4 million.”

Around the Bay Area, the median price for a single-family home last month was $1.25 million, a 17% decline from the prior April, the California Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Year-over-year sales volume declined nearly 39%.

Other median prices in the region last month included $1.59 million in San Francisco, a 23% decline over the prior April, and $840,000 in Sonoma County, a 3.4% decline from the year before, the association said.

Statewide, the median home price last month was $815,340, a year-over-year decline of about 8%. The number of sales fell 36% over the prior year.

The Realtors’ association attributed the declines in part “to the strong price surge in early 2022 when homebuyers rushed into the market to take advantage of low rates before the Fed began aggressively raising rates.”

“Home sales remained soft as the lock-in effect continued to tighten housing supply and keep would-be sellers from listing their homes for sale, which contributed to a 30% year-over-year drop in new statewide active listings — the largest drop since May 2020 when the pandemic shutdown took place,” said Jordan Levine, the association’s chief economist. “A surge in borrowing costs as mortgage rates surpassed 7% in late February and early March also contributed to the market weakness, as many transactions that opened in those two months were closed in April.”

The U.S. weekly average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.39% as of Thursday, up from 6.35% the prior week, according to Freddie Mac, the federally chartered mortgage company. A year ago, the average was 5.25%.

Marin real estate

Median prices for detached homes in the county over the past year.

April: $1.7 millionMarch: $1.67 millionFebruary: $1.53 millionJanuary: $1.61 millionDecember 2022: $1.5 millionNovember 2022: $1.54 millionOctober 2022: $1.68 millionSeptember 2022: $1.77 millionAugust 2022: $1.7 millionJuly 2022: $1.8 millionJune 2022: $1.88 millionMay 2022: $2.03 million

— Source: County of Marin