Marin County Luxury Home Sales Rise in April, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Reports
San Ramon, CA, May 28, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The Marin County luxury housing market continued to show some encouraging signs in April with sales of million-dollar homes rising to their highest level since October, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, the Bay Area’s leading provider of real estate services. But prices remained flat compared to a year ago.
A total of 37 luxury properties changed hands in April, up from 25 in March and the highest level since last October, when 59 million-dollar homes sold in the county. Homes also sold faster than in recent months, with sales closing in 99 days on average compared to 141 days the previous month. However, sales still were just half of the 78 luxury homes that sold in the same month a year ago. The $1.55 million median sale price last month was essentially even with the median price in April 2008.
“Between sales picking up and homes selling faster, we continued to see some encouraging signs last month that the high-end housing market in Marin County is gradually coming back to life,” said Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. “It’s too early to say for sure that we’ve turned the corner, but from all indications business certainly seems to be picking up in the luxury market.”
Turley said there appears to be a growing sentiment – from the national news media to consumers themselves – that the housing market has bottomed out. In addition, he said the stabilization of the financial markets, along with improvement in the stock market, seem to be triggering more positive attitudes among buyers.
“We are seeing increased activity in all of the cities in Marin County,” Turley said. “We’ve been getting good turnouts of potential buyers at open houses, and there seems to be more serious buyers out there. I think people understand that this buyer’s market and the extremely low interest rates won’t last forever. This seems to be prompting more and more people to get off the sidelines and jump into the market while prices and rates are still low.”
As with the luxury end of the market, the overall housing market in the Bay Area has also shown signs of a bottoming out. Dataquick, the La Jolla-based real estate information services company, reported that the number of all homes sold in the Bay Area rose for the eighth month in a row in April, while the decline in median prices has eased from the sharp drop-off of recent months.
Some key findings from this month’s Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:
The most expensive sale in Marin County in April was a five-bedroom, seven-bath, 4,530-square-foot home in Belvedere-Tiburon that sold for $5.2 million;
Mill Valley boasted the most million-dollar sales in April with 10, followed by Tiburon with four;
It took an average of just 99 days to sell a million-dollar home in the county, down from just 141 days last month but up from 74 days a year ago;
Homes sold for an average of 90 percent of their asking price, up from 83 percent last month, but down from 96 percent a year ago;
The Marin County Luxury Home Report is a monthly report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a specialist in high-end real estate sales. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is recognized around the world for its expertise in the luxury housing market. The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes sold for more than $1 million.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage serves Marin County with seven offices: 83 Beach Road in Belvedere; 350 Bon Air Ct., Suite 100, in Greenbrae; 500 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Greenbrae; 36 Tiburon Blvd. in Mill Valley; 1202 Grant Avenue, Novato; 711 Grand Ave. in San Rafael; and 1 Harbor Drive, Suite 110, in Sausalito. For more information, please call 925-275-3085.
About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, the largest residential real estate brokerage in Northern California, serves the markets of Sacramento/Tahoe, San Francisco/Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area, and Silicon Valley/Monterey Bay. The company has 61 office locations and more than 3,690 sales associates throughout Northern California. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is widely recognized for its expertise in the luxury housing market. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is part of NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company. NRT has more than 830 offices and 50,000 sales associates operating in more than 35 major metropolitan areas. A subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, NRT operates Realogy’s company-owned real estate brokerage offices. For more information please visit www.CaliforniaMoves.com or call 925.275.3085.
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A total of 37 luxury properties changed hands in April, up from 25 in March and the highest level since last October, when 59 million-dollar homes sold in the county. Homes also sold faster than in recent months, with sales closing in 99 days on average compared to 141 days the previous month. However, sales still were just half of the 78 luxury homes that sold in the same month a year ago. The $1.55 million median sale price last month was essentially even with the median price in April 2008.
“Between sales picking up and homes selling faster, we continued to see some encouraging signs last month that the high-end housing market in Marin County is gradually coming back to life,” said Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. “It’s too early to say for sure that we’ve turned the corner, but from all indications business certainly seems to be picking up in the luxury market.”
Turley said there appears to be a growing sentiment – from the national news media to consumers themselves – that the housing market has bottomed out. In addition, he said the stabilization of the financial markets, along with improvement in the stock market, seem to be triggering more positive attitudes among buyers.
“We are seeing increased activity in all of the cities in Marin County,” Turley said. “We’ve been getting good turnouts of potential buyers at open houses, and there seems to be more serious buyers out there. I think people understand that this buyer’s market and the extremely low interest rates won’t last forever. This seems to be prompting more and more people to get off the sidelines and jump into the market while prices and rates are still low.”
As with the luxury end of the market, the overall housing market in the Bay Area has also shown signs of a bottoming out. Dataquick, the La Jolla-based real estate information services company, reported that the number of all homes sold in the Bay Area rose for the eighth month in a row in April, while the decline in median prices has eased from the sharp drop-off of recent months.
Some key findings from this month’s Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:
The most expensive sale in Marin County in April was a five-bedroom, seven-bath, 4,530-square-foot home in Belvedere-Tiburon that sold for $5.2 million;
Mill Valley boasted the most million-dollar sales in April with 10, followed by Tiburon with four;
It took an average of just 99 days to sell a million-dollar home in the county, down from just 141 days last month but up from 74 days a year ago;
Homes sold for an average of 90 percent of their asking price, up from 83 percent last month, but down from 96 percent a year ago;
The Marin County Luxury Home Report is a monthly report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a specialist in high-end real estate sales. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is recognized around the world for its expertise in the luxury housing market. The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes sold for more than $1 million.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage serves Marin County with seven offices: 83 Beach Road in Belvedere; 350 Bon Air Ct., Suite 100, in Greenbrae; 500 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Greenbrae; 36 Tiburon Blvd. in Mill Valley; 1202 Grant Avenue, Novato; 711 Grand Ave. in San Rafael; and 1 Harbor Drive, Suite 110, in Sausalito. For more information, please call 925-275-3085.
About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, the largest residential real estate brokerage in Northern California, serves the markets of Sacramento/Tahoe, San Francisco/Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area, and Silicon Valley/Monterey Bay. The company has 61 office locations and more than 3,690 sales associates throughout Northern California. Through its internationally renowned Coldwell Banker Previews® program, the company is widely recognized for its expertise in the luxury housing market. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is part of NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company. NRT has more than 830 offices and 50,000 sales associates operating in more than 35 major metropolitan areas. A subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, NRT operates Realogy’s company-owned real estate brokerage offices. For more information please visit www.CaliforniaMoves.com or call 925.275.3085.
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Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Stephen Maita
510.739.0620
Stephen Maita
510.739.0620
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