Marin County Real Estate - February 2021

Our January report focused mostly on 2020’s annual statistics. This report will put most of its attention on quarterly and monthly indicators, which better illustrate changes occurring as 2020 progressed and 2021 began. 

The 2 tables below reflect market statistics and values for Q4 2020 only, which will often be different than those for the full year 2020. Median sales values can fluctuate for a number of reasons, and are especially prone to do so in markets with low sales volumes and high prices. 

Generally low inventory levels of listings on the market over the past year played a large role in the heat of the market. Listing activity has simply not kept pace with buyer demand. 

Month by month, year-over-year comparison of home sales volumes - illustrating the initial pandemic crash in activity followed by the market rebound that saw monthly sales volumes climb far above the levels of the previous year. 

The next chart compares the year-over-year changes in sales of homes selling for over and under $3 million. Sales in the higher price segment saw a very substantial jump, while sales under $3 million saw a much smaller increase. However, neither statistic really does justice to the rapid acceleration in market activity occurring in the second half of the year.

Luxury home sales by city and price segment: 

Two classic indicators of supply and demand: 

Below is the first table of a full-year 2020 home value analysis of markets around the Bay Area, ranked by median sales price, highest to lowest. Marin is well represented at the top of the list. The full ranking list and home price map are here: Bay Area 2020 Home Prices.  

Two of the factors behind the housing market recovery were the dramatic drop in interest rates, and the significant rebound in the stock market - especially of some of our local high-tech giants.