With all the bustle of the holidays, many Marin residents risk being distracted from their normal focus — real estate. Fortunately, there’s help.
Data on the top residential sales of the year in the county offer a stimulating reminder of the market’s possibilities.
Marin’s 10 most expensive home sales of 2023 cost a collective $144.6 million, according to the county assessor’s office. Six of the homes are in Belvedere, two are in Stinson Beach, one is in Ross and one is in Mill Valley.
Butch Haze, a real estate agent who specializes in Marin and San Francisco properties, said the “double-digit” sales this year — meaning $10 million and up — show the health of the market, even in a climate of elevated interest rates and low sales volume.
“It’s an indication the market is starting to turn,” he said. “It looks like 2024 is off to a good start. We found a tremendous amount of buyers wanting to wait till next year. It was almost a buyer mantra: Look this year, buy next year.”
According to data generated by Bill Pierson, assistant county assessor, Marin had 10 sales this year over the $10 million mark, including one sale exceeding $20 million.
By comparison, the county had five sales over $10 million in 2019; eight in 2020; 26 in 2021; and 21 last year. In that four-year period, seven sales broke the $20 million threshold, and all were in 2021.
The median price for a detached home in Marin last month was $1.74 million, according to the latest data from the assessor’s office.
The record sale price for a home in Marin was $47.5 million for 440 Golden Gate Ave. in Belvedere in 2015, said Shelly Scott, the county assessor-recorder-clerk.
Bill Smith, a Compass agent involved in two of the Belvedere deals in the top 10, said factors such as price and interest rates tend not to be significant considerations for buyers above the $10 million threshold.
“The money isn’t the issue, it’s the product,” Smith said. “When someone’s going to spend that kind of money, it’s got to be what they want. In today’s world, people aren’t willing to compromise as much.”
The top 10 priciest home sales of the year, according to county assessor data through the first week of December, with property highlights from online listings:
No. 1: 210 Beach Road, Belvedere.Price: $23.35 million.Sale date: Dec. 1.Highlights: The waterfront property on the east side of Belvedere Island includes a main house, a guest house, an apartment, a boat house and a pier.
No. 2: 134 Seadrift Road, Stinson Beach.Price: $17.5 million.Sale date: Oct. 25.Highlights: The gated oceanfront property in the Seadrift neighborhood includes six bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms and a two-bedroom guest house.
No. 3: 27 Bellevue Ave., Belvedere.Price: $14.25 million.Sale date: Jan. 27.Highlights: The three-bedroom house on Corinthian Island sits along Belvedere Cove and has San Francisco views, a floating dock and a boat lift.
No. 4: 9 West Shore Road, Belvedere.Price: $14.2 million.Sale date: Feb. 17.Highlights: The four-bedroom home on Belvedere Island sits on the Richardson Bay waterfront and includes a dock with a boat lift.
No. 5: 21 Canyon Road, Ross.Price: $14 million.Sale date: March 23.Highlights: The Japanese-style residence on a 14-acre property includes eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and views of Mount Tamalpais.
No. 6: 4 Blanding Lane, Belvedere.Price: $13.5 million.Sale date: Sept. 29.Highlights: The three-bedroom, four-bathroom residence sits on the tip of the Tiburon Peninsula, offering close views of the Golden Gate and San Francisco. According to Zillow, the sale price was a 107.6% increase from the previous sale eight years ago.
No. 7: 214 Seadrift Road, Stinson Beach.Price: $13.2 million.Sale date: June 12.Highlights: The five-bedroom oceanfront property includes a guest house and a beachfront courtyard.
No. 8: 33 Windward Road, Belvedere.Price: $12.49 million.Sale date: Oct. 18.Highlights: The five-bedroom home with a dock sits at the end of a street in the middle of Belvedere Lagoon.
No. 9: 12 Sky Road, Mill Valley.Price: $12.1 million.Sale date: June 16.Highlights: The modern six-bedroom home with a pool occupies a hillside property near the Tiburon border with views of Richardson Bay and the San Francisco skyline.
No. 10: 322 San Rafael Ave., Belvedere.Price: $10 million.Sale date: Oct. 31.Highlights: The four-bedroom home with a dock on Belvedere Lagoon had been listed initially for $12 million.