Focusing 

Mostly on City Market Dynamics 

The long-term median sales price chart below is similar to those for counties around the Bay Area – a significant spike in median house prices since the pandemic struck in early spring. However, Marin has seen a more dramatic increase than most. 

As mentioned before, recent jumps in median house prices have been driven not only by appreciation in fair market values, but by large increases in expensive home sales. Affluent buyers have made up a significantly larger percentage of Marin and Bay Area home purchases since the pandemic hit. 

The market typically starts a big slowdown in mid-November, running through the mid-winter holidays, until it begins to wake up in mid-January: New listings and sales plummet, and listings pulled off the market soar. Higher-price segments normally see the most dramatic plunges in mid-winter activity. 

This year, the pandemic upended seasonality: Spring, usually the strongest selling season, saw a crash in activity; summer, which typically slows down – especially for luxury home sales – saw extremely high demand, particularly at the high end. However, some counties, including Marin, were impacted – usually only temporarily – by the terrible fires. 

We suspect late Q4 will see a slowdown, but, on current trends, remain more active than in past years. 

Higher-Price Home Sales by Month 

Home Sales Breakdown 

Market Dynamics by City 

Following is a series of analyses that look at city median sales prices, luxury home sales, listings for sale, and a few standard measurements of supply and demand. Note that very expensive homes often see softer dynamics – the pool of buyers is much smaller, and overpricing more common for these very special properties – but this is not always the case. 

Click on this link for a comparative review of Bay Area COUNTY Markets. 

Regarding the next chart: Percentages of 50% or more would typically be considered to reflect a high-demand market. Over 60% signifies very high demand, or as it climbs, extremely high demand. As mentioned before, very high price markets often, but not always, see softer supply and demand indicators.