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Ted Strodder


415.377.5222
Golden Gate
Sotheby's International Realty
189 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
Greenbrae CA 94904

Marin Market Marches on and Yes, All Those Stories Are True

March is here in Marin and what a first two months of the year we’ve had. A lot has happened nationwide and world wide, but this is a real estate blog, so let’s get right to that. As you see in the heading here, it’s just as crazy as you think it is and the stories you’re hearing are likely true. Honestly, you can’t know the half of it given you aren’t in my chair seven days a week, so you’re hearing just a fraction of what’s actually going on. Close to zero inventory, multiple multiple whopping over asking offers by 15 different buyers, you name it. All true with all the data to back it up as buyers from surrounding areas or transplants use whatever powers they have to move to Marin, or at least try. One of the questions you may have is, “When is it going to slowdown or stop”. The answer to that, as you probably know is, “We’ll have to wait and see, but no time soon”. Two reasons for that.

  1. With 15 offers on any given property, that still leaves 14 active buyers out there, cash in hand, loans ready to go (if a loan is needed at all) and no house to sell, only one needed to buy. Add to that list of 14 buyers a couple more who join the fray each week and you can see how the demand is being continually fueled and if the supply doesn’t keep in step and also go up, prices rise. 
  2. As with any major asset market, we don’t know where a bottom or top is until we’re passed it. In our case, that’s usually 6 months out. Things can start slowing over the course of 3 months, but a real, documentable slowdown doesn’t kick in until 6 full months of any trend. We don’t know where we are until we’re well passed were we’ve been.  

Going forward, there’s no doubt things are going to remain very active in the near term, well into Q2. If you read this blog regularly, you’ll see that as a departure from what the forecast was for January and February. We all thought we saw a slight cooling trend coming, but that never happened, not even close. Maybe it’s our unseasonable nice weather, the threat of higher mortgage rates, or the new importance of house becoming a real home to fully enjoy. But for now, the frenetic buying continues. Check in next month to see where we are. Should be very interesting. 

That pretty much does it. Enjoy March wherever you are and please stay safe. As always, thanks for reading.

Ted

415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com