Very Interesting.....

I was pulling together some statistics for a meeting I will be having on Thursday and I did a short evaluation of prices since 2000 in one neighborhood. Marinview is a wonderful enclave of homes ajacent to the National Recreation Area. Built in the early 70's, the homes are growing increasingly unique as improvements are made to many. The close commute and proximity to nature is truly a wonderful blessing. I currently have listed a 1625 sq ft townhome priced at $846,000. Back in 2000 this home would have been priced in the mid $500,000s.

Since 2000 the prices have gone up 65% for a detached single family home and 60% for an attached home. Do the math! Not only is Real Estate a wonderful investment, beating most stocks by yards and yards, but the added benefit is you get to enjoy your investment!

What about the market downturn I heard about on TV. Well, yes there is some evidence of longer times on market in this desirable neighborhood. Homes will now sell at a reasonable price and in a reasonable amount of time. It was getting to be that a listing would sell in 2 weeks time. Now our time on market is more like the average of the past 40 years. The average time on market over this time period is 4.5 months.

This is time for sellers to realistic about price and timing. Sellers need to find the person who will use every tool available to keep the house in people's minds. They need to make the home as available as possible. Patience is something severely lacking in the recent Real Estate boom. Now its time to head back to earth, and be thankful for the incredible gains realized. For those people who bought when the market was hot, and now worry their investment is at risk, take a look at the long picture. There is no better place to own Real Estate than Marin.