The majority of news about Marin Real Estate is all bad.  The latest article in the Marin IJ is titled "Wealthy Marin not immune to foreclosure crisis".  The article focus on short-sales and foreclosures in Marin.  Are they happening?  Absolutely!   According to Dataquick, mortgages were least likely to go into default in San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties.  Notices of Default were definitely up- 89 in Q3 2006 as compared to 172 in Q3 2007.  It is an issue, but  the reality isn't as negative as you would think. 

As I was reviewing the sales activity for Marin County homes in the last week, I saw a number of homes closing escrow over the asking price.  Typically this would mean they had multiple offers.  Last week in Mill Valley, 3 out of 5 homes that closed escrow sold over the asking price, 1 sold at the list price, and one under asking.  Visit BlogbytheBay for the full report of last week's sales in Marin.   As you will see in the report, we are not seeing multiple offers and over asking list prices everywhere in Marin.  Novato has definitely struggled this year, as has parts of San Rafael.  Some areas are really suffering, but in many areas, homes are moving!  Flying off the shelf so to speak.  A hot listing in San Anselmo- five offers!

Many buyers were sitting on the fence waiting to see how the mortgage market troubles would shake out.  These buyers are finding that great loan programs are still available, and they are out looking.  Activity at open houses continues to be active.  We have seen lots of price reductions (85 last week!), which is great to get rid of some of the old, stale listings.  Real estate activity usually slows down quite a bit in November and December, so it will be interesting to track what happens in the new few weeks.

Ginger Wilcox is a residential real estate agent with Pacific Union in Marin County, CA. For more information, visit Ginger’s Marin Real Estate Blog.