Wow- what a difference 8 weeks makes. The bifurcation of the Marin Real Estate market continues now reaching a fever pitch- the low end of the market is literally manic but the high end of the market continues quite slow ex. still no sales yet over $5m in Tiburon for the last 6 months and only 3 over the previous 12 months.
 
The market for homes below $1.35m has now reached a frenzied bubble-like mania with many homes in this price range receiving 5-20 offers and selling 10% over asking and almost 20% over last year’s valuations. Homes in this price range are now selling significantly OVER the business cycle mean.
 
Ex. A Recent home in San Rafael received 9 offers (one was a client of The DuPont Group).
 
My Trailing 12 months Valuation of the property was $696,904
 Suggested offer was $791,936
 Offer Made: $800,000 25 day close
 Approximate Peak market Value (2007)$879,049
 Offers higher than Peak Market Value were received
 
Buyers in this price range are advised to act with caution. A lack of inventory is meeting pent-up demand, combined with fear of increasing mortgage rates; and causing emotion to escalate pricing- very quickly.
 
There is a bottleneck between the bottom and top half of our market right now that only rising prices can cure.
 
A little patience will likely save buyers 5%-10%... However and interestingly: with interest rates likely to incrementally rise the actual monthly affordability may not be greatly affected by waiting…