What is going on with this real estate market?

As the year draws to a close many people are asking what will happen next. First of all there is finally plenty of money available for financing. Banks are starting to get creative, rates are dropping and yes, there is 90% financing out there. Since our average price is so high in Marin and Sonoma banks are doing loan combining to give borrowers the most benefits from various loan programs. They are even starting to compete for business. The inventory is dropping partially as sellers decide to take their homes off for the holidays and partly because sellers who don’t have to sell just won’t in this market. The buyers are still hesitant yet they are also becoming anxious to purchase as they see some real values in homes and investments and also see rates dropping on financing. Please contact us at our website for more information. www.marinrealestate.net

The Future of Home Prices

There are so many theories out about where home prices are going and we want to shed some light on some realities and also dispel some fears. The media has reported prices in California have dropped 29% and yet there are counties like Marin, that have had an overall decline of approximately 9% and even within the County there are towns that have had less of a decline and some, like Novato, that have had more. By the same analysis, some pundits say that home prices aren’t going back up for years to come while others say they will increase just ahead of inflation rates. The recent article in the Wall Street Journal about this topic reported a recent poll where 61% of homeowners believed the value of their home would either remain level or rise within the next six months. Another survey reported that 91% thought that owning a home was the best long-term investment they could make.

Yes, the country has a hole to dig out of and it could get worse, but when it comes to home prices in years to come, the bottom line is that it’s all about location. The factors such as current real estate conditions, availability of open space for development, stability of incomes, areas with close proximity to a big city and jobs, schools etc., will all have an effect on home values throughout the country. Marin County has the advantage of so many desirable factors when it comes to choosing a place to live, we feel confident that in the final analysis, it’s hard to beat and will be recognized as such. In the next couple of years home values will stabilize as inventory decreases and then rise again. As the WSJ editor commented on the same article, “When it comes to housing, everybody needs a place to live, don’t they? And for as long as most of us can remember, housing prices have consistently headed higher. In some places, spectacularly so. Surely, that will continue.”

Contact us at 415 925-3287 or e-mail at peter@marinrealestate.net and visit our website at marinrealestate.net.