Single-family home sales in Sausalito remained consistent with what we saw in 2022 with a median price of $2,640,000.
The Marin real estate market shifted into new territory in Q1, shedding the weight of the drastic rate-hike market and re-balancing itself into a more normalized market comparative to the rest of the country.
Typical markets see homes sitting for 21-30 days before selling, with the best turnkey properties being the ones attracting the most attention and selling above asking. Although Marin has seldom operated in parallel with 'normal', it seems we're now getting a taste of it.
Properties priced right & presented well are still moving quickly, but anything less-than turnkey, especially if it's priced inline with a 3% rate market rather than today's rates, DOM will accumulate. With higher rates we are seeing monthly payment affordability issues & pricing needs to reflect this.
Condo Market
Condominium sales in Sausalito, while down in volume, actually held steady on a price-per-foot basis in Q1 of 2023 compared to all of 2022; Demand remains high.
$Sqft is dramatically more relevant in the condominium markets than single-family homes and can be generally used to assess the desirability of the condo market when comparing periods.
$886/foot in Q1 '23 over 6 sales vs. $866 in all of 2022 over 50 sales is a compelling statistic. Yes, volume is down, but there is still a market for peak pricing.
We've seen affordability be massively affected in recent months, and buyers in the condominium market are typically most affected by increased rates. The Sausalito condo market maintaining desirability shows the strength of demand.
Median Market
Single-family home sales in Sausalito remained consistent with what we saw in 2022 with a median price of $2,640,000.
The market steadily increased in value over 2021 and 2022, as all surrounding markets did during that period, but has finally started to level out. The median price jumped to $2.7M in roughly Q2 of 2022 but has remained mostly steady since.
Buyers are much more hesitant to pull the trigger and buy homes, however, which aligns with the theme of affordability issues and sellers having 'pre 6% rate market' values. Days on market jumped from 24 to 67 in Q1, highlighting that sellers have to be more realistic with pricing expectations or face the likelihood of sitting on the market for months.
Luxury Market
The luxury housing market in Sausalito slowed in Q1 with only 2 home sales, but prices remained steady.
Of the two sales, both averaged less than three weeks on market and sold above the asking price. With only 11 luxury property sales in 2022, it's hard to compare and contrast too much as every home in Sausalito is notably different in a variety of ways.
What the data does hint at, however, is there is always a buyer for a turnkey, beautiful property above the water. Luxury pockets like Sausalito will retain demand, and value, much better than those with more like-kind properties.
The general theme of macro-economic activity is more-of-the-same. We're seeing a steady diet of stress events like Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and the sell off of others, First Republic flailed for a moment which caused the entire real estate market to hold it's breath (FR is San Francisco's leading residential mortgage lender), and tech companies are laying off employees and axing non-revenue generating business activity, all typical during periods of tightening.
Also, the fed raises rates again at the turn of Q2 by 25bp and plans of doing this a few more times. However, and this is a BIG however, California is a sunshine state. People don't go to open houses in the rain (we're ridiculous, yes). With the sun back out, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a flurry of activity.
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