May 30, 2008

Is Marin Just About to Hit the Bottom?

In a recent Marin IJ article , a real estate instructor for the College of Marin noted that if the housing market in Marin hasn’t bottomed out yet, it’s very close.

The article recaps the Marin sales activity and stats for April.  While overall sales are down a whopping 31% in April versus the prior year, it has been noted that homes are changing hands among buyers, and it’s picked up over the last few months.

In April, only 165 single family homes were sold.  Compared to April of 2007, where 265 homes were sold, the number looks pretty paltry.  However, it is a modest improvement from last month.  March saw 110 homes go from seller to buyer.

In Marin, the foreclosure activity isn’t as high as other bay area locales.  In Marin, only 9 percent of sales activity were due to foreclosures, meanwhile that number was 26 percent for the general Bay Area market.

So, are the stats telling us it’s time to jump back in?