Your August Market Update

LATEST MARKET DATA – MARIN COUNTY – JULY 2023

LATEST MARKET DATA – SONOMA COUNTY – JULY 2023

Statistics for Marin and Sonoma counties for last month demonstrate that market forces are still having a significant impact on our real estate market.

Mortgage rates continue to weigh on buyer sentiment and we broadly saw lower sales in July than in June – an 18.8% drop in Sonoma County and a 20% decrease in Marin County.

Conversely, however, pending sales were up in Sonoma by 8.5% compared with June and, in general, it’s fair to say that there are still highly motivated buyers and, of course, we always need to remember that not everyone needs a mortgage!

In terms of the number of homes for sale in the market, we observed a slight drop in both counties, but there is a relatively healthy number of listings right now, compared with the latter part of 2022 and the early part of this year, so there’s a bit more choice for buyers than there was.

The obvious question is where are things headed from here?

A recent forecast from Fannie Mae suggests that rates could fall during the rest of the year, but not by much and with a very modest decline to the end of next year, so things aren’t likely to change dramatically any time soon.

Buyers, of course, have the option to borrow now and refinance once rates fall again and, for those who simply cannot postpone a move, this is an especially viable strategy.

The key message is that buyers are still out there in good numbers, so listing your home right now still puts you in a very good position to sell.

As ever, contact us for the very best advice in your own situaion – 415 492 0100.