Business Partner of the Month – Sharon Kramlich, Pacific Union Real Estate

Good Schools and the Value of Mill Valley Real Estate
by Sharon Kramlich of Pacific Union Real Estate

Sharon Kramlich of Pacific Union International is a 20+ year veteran real estate professional and Kiddo! supporter and board member. Sharon began her real estate career in San Francisco in 1993 and has been living and practicing real estate in Southern Marin since 2000 when she and her husband moved to Mill Valley. Today, with 3 children in Mill Valley public schools, Sharon has first hand awareness about the relationship between our public schools and real estate value.

Public schools are integral to the quality of life in Mill Valley and they directly influences real estate values. The entire community understands this as evidenced by the fact that a couple of years ago Measure B passed, which levied a $196 parcel tax that will last for 8 years and will deliver much needed additional funding for our schools. This measure, for example, paid for the extensive redevelopment of Edna Maguire School. Considering that approximately 80% of the larger community does not have children in the public school system, it is certainly an affirmation that good schools are fundamentally a sound investment for everyone.

Mill Valley will always be a place that puts a premium on housing and schools are a big factor. In fact, over the last 6 years alone, the student population has grown by almost 30%. While it is great that new families are joining our community, it is putting a lot of stress on the Mill Valley School District and on the real estate market as well. During the recent recession, market values did not go down but instead flattened out. In the last year 2 years though, there has been a massive surge in demand for homes in Mill Valley. In real estate, demand is measured by “Months of Inventory” which accounts for the supply of housing in the market and “Days on Market” which, in turn, measures how fast that supply is being taken off the market. Typically we would expect to see 3 to 5 months of supply in a ‘normal’ market, but it is now down to only 1.5 months of supply. This is extremely low for any market. Also, in a normal market the average time that a home is on the market is around 90-120 days, but today we are seeing a figure that is around 30-50 days…and that often includes 30+ days of being in contract! So the actual average time a home is on the market is now around 2 to 3 weeks and for well-appointed homes in good locations that figure drops to only a few days with highly contested multiple offer situations. This of course is driving home values and prices up across the board.

As we look to the future it is impossible to predict what the value of real estate will be in any market. One thing, though, that anyone can predict is that Mill Valley will always be a great place to live and raise a family! Our schools and Kiddo! are a big part of making Mill Valley such a special place and we are so fortunate to all live here.