Home Prices Slip in Marin County While Bay Area Prices Rise

The price of a typical house has inched down in Marin County, with homes taking longer to sell.

The median price for a single-family home in Marin was $1.6 million last month, $10,000 less than the previous July, the Marin Independent Journal reported, citing figures from the county assessor’s offices. The typical home price in Sonoma County also dipped $960 to $850,000.

Over the same period, the median price for a detached home in California rose 6.5 percent, and 3.6 percent in the Bay Area, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The Marin assessor’s office reported 192 single-family homes sold last month, up 14.3 percent from 168 a year earlier. Statewide, sales rose 4.1 percent statewide and 19.2 percent in the Bay Area over the one-year period, the California Association of Realtors said.

“The year-over-year gain was the 13th straight month of annual price increases, albeit the smallest since January,” the association said, referring to the statewide figure. “Home prices could soften further in coming months but should continue to register moderate year-over-year growth for the rest of the year.”

Homes for sale in Marin last month spent a median of 57 days on the market, compared to 43 days a year earlier, according to the association.

“It has shifted to be a little bit more of a buyer’s market,” Jarret Weis, a Vanguard agent who represented the buyer in a $1.6 million deal for a Mill Valley house last month, told the Independent Journal.

With a potential interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve and more homes expected to become available, he expects sales to increase after Labor Day.

Typical home prices last month in the tony region north of San Francisco have slid for three consecutive months since a May price of $1.84 million.

The peak of Marin’s market was in the spring of 2022, when the median price for detached homes was $2.12 million in April and $2.03 million in May. It has not passed the $2 million mark since then, according to the newspaper.

In the Marin condominium and townhome market, 51 sold last month at a median price of $799,000, A year earlier, the same number of residences sold for a median $832,500.

Around the nine-county Bay Area, San Mateo County was the priciest market last month with a median of $2.1 million, 5.8 percent more than a year earlier, while Santa Clara County was $1.88 million, a 4.4 percent increase and San Francisco was $1.6 million, up 9.6 percent, according to the association.

In Silicon Valley, the price for a typical home now tops $2 million, becoming the first metropolitan market in the U.S. to enter the Double Million Dollar Club.

— Dana Bartholomew