Southern/Central Marin’s single-family home market is incredibly hot right now. The number of sales and median price is up dramatically over this time last year. Median prices are up a striking 23.5% and the number of sales is up 41.8%. Buyers are pouring out of San Francisco looking for more square footage, more rooms, and access to private outdoor space.
Condo prices are also up sharply from last year at 17.9% while the number of sales remains similar.
Numerous San Francisco employers have announced that work-from-home will be a continued employee option in 2021 and may become permanent. As a result, young, highly mobile renters or property-owners in San Francisco are looking at their housing options in communities around the Bay Area and beyond. Marin has become a prime destination for them. The move to Marin has always been the trend as the household size grows so the purchases we are seeing now may just be borrowing from the future sales.
The Federal Reserve Bank has signaled that it will be keeping lending rates for banks near zero for the foreseeable future. Mortgage rates will likely remain in the 3% range during this time. The resulting lower monthly payments are propping up prices by increasing buyers’ purchasing power over this time last year.
As of September 15th, Marin County moved to tier 2 of economic reopening, keeping pace with the progress on the COVID-19 front seen in neighboring areas. This will likely help continue its appeal. We will continue to watch this in the coming months to see what impact it has on the market.
Note: More information on COVID-19 can be found here: https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org
