Marin Real Estate Pulse

How does the Marin County housing market look this July compared to July 2005?
It has changed from a seller market to a buyers market so your agent should feel comfortable showing you many homes and not trying to rush you.  Some agents focus on listings and don’t want to spend time with buyers so be sure to ask if it will be the agent you interview or an assistant.
Now for the numbers, and this includes both homes and condominiums.  July 2005 there were 315 homes sold, this July 229 homes sold.  This is a drop of twenty seven percent.  Last July fifty percent of homes sold in the first thirty days at an average of 103% of the asking price.  July 2006 33% sold in the first thirty days at an average of 100% of the asking price (this includes reduced asking price as well).
Sellers need to prepare the home for sale and start with a realistic price.  Buyers, your time has come so find that home you want while rates are still low.

It's that time again. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Census Department have released their monthly reports on the state of the new home industry in consumer terms and the attitude of those who make their living by building the homes.

So how are builders feeling about the future? Not so good according to the Wells Fargo/NAHB Home Builders Housing Market Index (HMI) for August. The index just hit its lowest level since...

I just ran some statistics on how many homes in Marin County come back on the market after entering escrow.
In the last thirty days 253 homes (condos and homes) sold in Marin.  During the same thirty day period 112 homes came back on the market.  This includes homes that sold during the same time period but even with that it is a sobering number.
This can happen for many reasons; sometimes a buyer thinks they paid too much and find some other reason to back out.  Other times new inspections bring to light damage or conditions that for various reasons can’t be negotiated.
A good way to prevent the deal from falling apart is for sellers to disclose all they know about the property from the start.  Perhaps, more import, thought is for the real estate agents to try to work together and prevent either party from locking horns on small issues.

Here is a great blog on home rentals.

http://www.rentvine.com/blog/index.php/my-first-ses-experience/

In addition to the three witnesses from government agencies, Department of Justice, Government Accountability Office, and Federal Trade Commission who testified in general that real estate lacks real competitiveness, there were four other witnesses who testified against the industry. All four definitely have a dog in this fight.

It is hard to imagine how two organizations could deviate more on the direction of mortgage rates than Freddie Mac and The Mortgage Bankers Association did in their respective reports for the week ending August 10 and August 11.

In the wake of the Federal Reserves' decision to halt, temporarily at least, the clockwork quarter-point increases they have made for months in the federal funds rate, Freddie Mac's Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey noted across the board drops in rates for three of the four products it tracks. MBA, however, reported that rates increased for each of the three mortgage products in its survey.

According to Freddie Mac the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage...

Several things have occurred over the last week or so in the ongoing saga of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and their financial improprieties which date back almost to the turn of the century.

First, Freddie Mac recently announced that it had voluntarily adopted a temporary policy of limited growth for its portfolio of retained loans. The use of the term "voluntarily" may be ...