10/14/2023
What Happened in September with 🏡 📊 ? Autumn is upon us and we’re in the midst of the post-Labor Day / pre-holidays bump in the real estate market – a window of time that’s just a short 11-12 weeks. This year, the month-over-month change for new listings varied quite a lot from one county to the next. Some saw the expected uptick; others saw a small dip. What’s consistent everywhere though, is that interest rates are on everyone’s mind: buyers and sellers alike.
Rates are still up from where they have been in recent years. However, a little historic perspective is due. In the 1980s, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 12.7%. In the 1990s, the average was 8.12%. In the first decade of the new millennium, it was 6.29%. It’s important to remember: when rates go up, they also come back down. That’s why in the real estate business, there’s a popular saying: “Date the rate, marry the house.”
In SONOMA, the number of available properties for sale has started to increase and ease things a bit for buyers. Months' Supply of Inventory (MSI) is a helpful metric for understanding market pressures. It measures how long it would take all currently available properties to sell at our current sales pace. For September, MSI was 2.7 months - up 42.1% compared to the same period last year., Median Sales Price for Single Family Homes was $847K during the month of September, up 4.6% compared to the same period last year. Average Days on Market dropped by 21.7% to 36 days. The number of Single Family Homes sold was 256, which was moderately down compared to September last year.
In MARIN, the September MSI was 2.1 months - up 5% compared to the same period last year. Median Sales Price for Single Family Homes was $1.67M during the month of September, down 4.7% compared to the same period last year. Average Days on Market dropped by 22.6% to 24 days. The number of Single Family Homes sold was 132, which was slightly down compared to September last year.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you around the neighborhood!
