Marin Real Estate

Initially I was hesitant to post this link, thinking, “The luxury market is such a small fraction of total sales, who wants to hear about that?” Right. Except for that very fraction to which this applies. But the news has a far bigger implication. Most people would say it has no bearing on the realities for the average buyer, but in my opinion, that is in fact. wrong. For the market to return to a healthy balance, all sectors need to improve. But beyond that, the real news is that banks are loosening up with the jumbo loans. (*Jumbos are any loan of $417,000 and up in most places ($625,500 and up in high-cost areas like Marin County and the Greater Bay Area).

So the luxury home sales bump indicates a number of things: (1) Those who can afford a really high-end home are seeing the wisdom and value in purchasing at this time; a good indicator for everyone else to consider seriously; (2) The jumbo loan in Marin County includes many home we wouldn’t necessarily call “luxury homes.” (the blessing and the curse of living in Marin). By this I mean that the jumbo loan reaches far further down the economic scale than one might think, a benefit for all those $900K-$1M homes.

So, if this continues, it is potentially a really great news trend that bodes well for homebuyers and homeowners at every economic level in Marin.

Select the link to the KCM blog below, then follow that up with the additional link to the Wall Street Journal. If you have any other questions, email me at egutekunst@fhallen.com, or call me direct at 415.939.2308.

Luxury Housing Market Begins to Surge