Health & Fitness
The State of Novato Real Estate Market, Now and Then
Has the real estate market really turned around? Take a look at market statistics from two years ago compare to what it is now.
The buzz on the local market since the end of last year, although gingerly made, has been that we might have hit the bottom of the market, and are on our way to crawl out of that black hole.
As we held our breath while watching the market during the past five months, we became cautiously optimistic about the market – the Feds declared they plan to hold the interest rate down, the Congress is finding ways to encourage/enable underwater homeowners to stay in their homes, the banks are learning from their mistakes, streamlining short sale processes as well as not flooding the market with bank owned homes, inventory is also low due to homeowners being more careful and are staying put instead of trading up or down without any fear as it was during the boom time. .
Being in the Bay Area, we are also seeing the economy getting better; the air of optimism is moving from southbay thru San Francisco (where the housing market held relatively strong during the down time); to the northbay. Similarily, we see buyers coming from different bay areas, from out of state and from different countries.
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
We witness the optimism in housing through – shorter time on market, multiple offers, starting from first time homes (or for some, investment properties that can finally generate positive cash flow where it was not possible in Marin county a few years back); to our bread and butter – the $400-$500K range, moving up to the middle range of under $700Ks; all strong sellers’ market, while the upper middle and higher end remain in the buyer or neutral market. There were no sales over $2,000,000 in years 2012, 2011; while two closed thus far in 2012. .
To see what a difference two years made, I found my old blog post on a national real estate site back in May 27, 2010 and created a similar one as of May 14, 2012; both using data from local Multiple Listing Services (BAREIS – Bay Area Real Estate Information Service).
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
One thing to keep in mind is that numbers, although telling, do not tell everything and can be interpreted differently – even though this is Novato data, the same price range does not represent the same range of homes (as market dropped, homes with similar prices are, in general, nicer or bigger than two years ago); some are short sales and stay on market or pending longer. Novato also has what I called macro areas that respond to the market differently from each other. So, be very cautious when interpreting the numbers. Another point is that when the sample is small, the percentage can be skewed.
We are watching the market closely, with news such as Dow trading downwards for the last couple of days, investors cautious about Facebook IPO, it will be quiet interesting to see how the numbers might change once the summer is here.
For specific questions about the market and the trend, please call your trusted Realtor®; and of course, I will be happy to help also.
(Footnote - Brent suggested that I might provide more Real Estate related information because that's what I have been doing since 2004 and blogging nationwide since 2008. I am finally able to contribute after completing a couple of big projects last week.)
NOVATO MARKET, as of 05/14/2012
Total Units
Total Active
Total In Escrow
% Active
% In Escrow
(*)
2012 vs 2010 (**)
SFDs
195
84
101
43%
57%
S
19%+
CIDs
68
16
52
24%
76%
S
23%+
All SFDs/CIDs
253
100
153
40%
60%
S
18%+
SFD by Price Range
$0-$500K
64
15
48
23%
77%
S
19%+
$500,001-$600K
27
9
18
33%
67%
S
25%+
$600,001-$700K
31
9
22
29%
71%
S
29%+
$700,001-$800K
26
13
13
50%
50%
S
3%-
$800,001-$999,999
19
15
4
79%
21%
B
2%
$1M – $1.25M
13
9
4
69%
31%
N
16%+
$1.25M – $1.5M
8
6
2
75%
25%
B
7%+
$1.5M+
7
7
0
100%
0%
B
15%-
TOTAL SFDs
194
83
111
43%
57%
S
18%+
(*) % in Contract: < 25% - Buyers' Market; 25%-40% Neutral; >40% Sellers' Market
(**) 2012 vs 2010 - Differences between 2012 and 2010 in % in Contract
NOVATO MARKET - as of 05/27/2010
Total Units
Total Active
Total In Escrow
% Active
% In Escrow
(*)
SFDs
255
157
98
62%
38%
N
CIDs
89
42
47
47%
53%
S
All SFDs/CIDs
344
199
145
58%
42%
S
SFD by Price Range
$0-$500K
55
23
32
42%
58%
S
$500,001-$600K
38
22
16
58%
42%
S
$600,001-$700K
38
22
16
58%
42%
S
$700,001-$800K
36
17
19
47%
53%
S
$800,001-$999,999
36
29
7
81%
19%
B
$1M – $1.25M
20
17
3
85%
15%
B
$1.25M – $1.5M
17
14
3
82%
18%
B
$1.5M+
13
11
2
85%
15%
B
TOTAL SFDs
253
155
98
61%
39%
N
(*) % in Contract: < 25% - Buyers' Market; 25%-40% Neutral; >40% Sellers' Market
