January Jump: New Year Kicks Off With a Bang

It’s 2025 in Marin. Is it just me, or does that sound so much more futuristic than 2024. Ironically, what the future holds for Marin real estate is very much a topic on more than just a few minds here these days. So many people didn’t buy or sell in the last two years, the pent-up demand to do either has only grown. People have to live somewhere. That means, they often have to move. Maybe they need to stop paying rent and want to control their own home destiny. Maybe they need to trade up, trade down, or trade out of the county altogether for cheaper pastures. What’s interesting about that one, is the number of people who opt for a lesser priced, more affordable area, only to figure out within a few years why it’s so cheap to live there. Some of those decide to move back and you can’t blame them. Marin is pretty tough to beat for quality of living, but it’s easy to beat for home prices. Considering the flat two years we’ve seen here, that’s likely to change soon. It actually seems to be changing already.

Multiple offers abounded last week, at least some of the properties I had been watching. One was an older, 1920’s home in Mill Valley for $1.8 mil that didn’t even have a working HVAC, among other things. That didn’t stop 62 buyers from requesting a disclosure packet and 9 of those stepping up with strong, over asking offers, including all cash. I’m told the winner was one of those, with a one week closing. Is this a one-off? Unlikely. I watched the same thing happen, to a lesser extent in Corte Madera that was listed for $1.6 mil. There were 33 packets out on that one, with 6 offers in. The winner will close on that one shortly, but both of these sales obviously had no contingencies. The take away here is less about the winners and more about those who didn’t win. With these two properties alone, that leaves 13 buyers still out there, ready to buy. And the next time the right house comes around, I promise you, all of them will offer a little bit higher and better. Therein lies Marin home appreciation. Let’s see if this continues throughout the spring, but our market really hasn’t even gotten going yet. We usually start around mid February.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. Hope this is a great year for you, wherever you are.

Ted Strodder

Golden Gate Sotheby’s Int’l Realty

text 415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

CalRE: 01057081

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder