Corte Madera

About Corte Madera

The Third Town across the Golden Gate Bridge is Corte Madera. The borders Mill Valley and Tiburon on the south and Larkspur to the North. The town of Corte Madera can be thought of in three distinct parts:

• To the east side of 101 (on your right going north on 101) fringing the bay backing up the hill facing north towards Larkspur, San Quinten and the Richmond Bridge
• The valley area around the Village at Cote Madera Mall on the east side of 101 (on your right driving north)
• The west side of 101 nestled on the northeast slopes of Mount Tamalpias and around the Corte Madera Town Center mall.

Historically, the town was part of the second rancho awarded adventurer John Reed in the late 1830's called Corte Madera Del Presidio which means roughly 'where they cut the wood for the Presidio' and incorporated modern day Belvedere, Tiburon, and parts of Corte Madera. To process the wood he build a "Mill" in a nearby "Valley"-you guessed it 'Old Mill' in what was later named Mill Valley. Unfortunately, John Reed took ill in 1843 with a terrible cold; his friends tried to cure him by bleeding but instead they severed an artery and he bled to death. http://www.millvalleyhistoricalsociety.org/history-of-early-mill-valley.html

Corte Madera is close to the center point of Marin. The town is home to two large malls with great shopping and dining, as well as a selection of public parks including the Corte Madera Town Park-- a Marin favorite for families with young children.

Residents of several parts of Corte Madera are served by the Reed Union School District but the vast majority are served by the Larkspur School District which includes: Neil Cummins (K-5), Hall Middle School (6-8) and Redwood High School.

Corte Madera is generally warmer in the summer than Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon and Belvedere as it is more protected by the Marin Headlands and Mount Tamalpais on the West and Horse Hill and Ring Mountain to the South. It has an average temperature of approximately 60 degrees with average highs around 70 degrees and average lows around 48. Mount Tam and Christmas Tree Hill tend to shelter Corte Madera from the summer fog, but it does get its fair share particularly on summer mornings.

Corte Madera is a great choice for families desiring to be close to San Francisco. The town has great schools and is a bit more affordable than other areas of Sothern Marin. Please go to the "Search MLS" page or call us to find out what is available in Corte Madera.

Corte Madera Links

Corte Madera Community Contacts

Corte Madera Schools

Residents of parts of Corte Madera still served by the Reed Union School District but the vast majority are served by the Larkspur School District which includes: Neil Cummins (K-5), Hall Middle School (6-8) and Redwood High School.

The Larkspur School District serves Larkspur and Corte Madera and enrollment is just over 1,100 students. Both Neil Cummins and Hall Middle School have been recognized as a California Distinguished School-the state's highest honor for overall program excellence.

Reed Union School district is named after adventurer John Reed, the first Anglo-Saxon settler in Marin, and is widely considered to be one of Southern Marin's best elementary school systems. Reed Union district serves Belvedere, Tiburon and a portion of Corte Madera. Enrollment is approximately 1,050 students with class size averaging 20 students. API scores for the RUSD are 945 among the highest in the state.

www.larkspurschools.org

Marin Public Schools (PDF 538k)
Marin Private Schools (PDF 161k)
Childcare and Nursery School (PDF 244k)

Corte Madera Historical Price Trends

Investing in Corte Madera Real Estate, like most Marin towns, has been a rewarding experience-not only did you live in one of the greatest suburbs in the world, but you also made a small fortune doing so. In 1970 the average house in Corte Madera sold for $36,635-identical to Mill Valley's average price in the same year. By 2006 that number had risen to almost $1,80,700 for a 36 year compounded rate of return of 9.9%. If you had 50% mortgage on the purchase price of the house the rate of return rises to 11.6% and an 80% mortgage rate of return is 14.8% (not considering mortgage payments, property taxes or anything else). The dollar rate of return interestingly tells more: the total dollar rate of return since 1970 is about $1,044,056 but almost half of that come since 1999.

Corte Madera's average rate of return is about 9.9% and is on par with the Marin County average of 9.8% through 2006. The California State average rate of return for the same period was 9.0% and the national average rate of return, no mortgage, was only 6.5%.

Corte Madera Compounded 36 Year Rate of Return

Please visit "Investing in Marin Real Estate for town to town comparisons, price trends and rates of return.

Neighborhood Info