The Most Expensive Neighborhoods for Homes in Marin County California 2023

Marin County was one of the hottest real estate markets during the pandemic as people fled the big city to the south, San Francisco, and moved up to Marin to enjoy the ocean views, natural beauty that the area has to offer, all while working remotely. And because of that migration, property values in Marin went through the roof. And in this video, I'm gonna break down the top 5 most expensive places to live based on the average price of single-family homes sold since January of 2022. What's up everyone? This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent and real estate developer in San Francisco and Marin County. I've lived in the Bay Area for over a decade, giving me in-depth firsthand knowledge of the San Francisco and Marin County real estate markets and lifestyle. If you're thinking about relocating or want more information about those markets, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I'd be more than happy to help you. And if you like videos just like this, please subscribe to my channel and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video. All right, so this video is all about the 5 most expensive places to live in Marin County. Over the past several years, the average cost— of a single-family home in all of Marin has actually surpassed the average cost of a single-family home in San Francisco. And there are neighborhoods in Marin where the average cost of a single-family home is double or even triple the cost of an average single-family home in San Francisco. Now, living in these areas comes with some amazing perks that you don't necessarily get living in San Francisco: access to some of the best outdoor spaces in the world, you're closer to wine country, and you're honestly not that far from San Francisco if you want to go to San Francisco to enjoy all of its restaurants and its shopping without actually having to live there. A lot of the homes in these areas also tend to be on larger lots than they are in San Francisco, so your money goes a little bit further even though the homes are more expensive. With all that said, let's dive into each one. Coming in at number 5 is the city of Larkspur. Just 15 miles north of San Francisco is Larkspur. It is smack in the center of Marin County. It's only 3 square miles, located next to Corte Madera, Kentfield, and Mill Valley. The town of Larkspur is one of the most popular for people who need to commute to San Francisco. Not only is the drive pretty short down the 101 freeway to the Golden Gate Bridge, it's less than 20 minutes to get to the city. It's also very close to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge if you need to get to the East Bay. And Larkspur also has its own ferry terminal, so you can actually take a ferry to San Francisco if you don't want to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. The Marin Country Mart is one of my favorite places to shop in Larkspur. It has great high-end shopping and great restaurants. RealReal, Amber Interiors, Jenny Kane, Hudson Grace, Design Within Reach, and a lot of other high-end brands are there. My favorite restaurant there is Farmshop, which is a little bit more of an upscale pizza place. I would say Larkspur overall is one of Marin's most charming neighborhoods. Many of the homes there sit underneath century-old redwood trees. There are creeks that make up property lines all around Larkspur. It makes really for one of the most peaceful and serene living scenes in all of Marin. The scenery also makes it great for biking, jogging, hiking, easy access to water, you know, rowing and boating and lots of other popular activities. The historic downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places and has some incredible boutique shops, restaurants, wine bars, and coffee shops. The downtown stretch also hosts a really fun Fourth of July parade every year. It's a can't miss for anybody who lives in Marin. And schools there, like most of Marin, are highly distinguished. Distinguished. So it's a great place to raise a family. There were 64 homes sold there since the beginning of January 2022 to when I'm filming this video, the beginning of May of 2023. The average cost of those homes was about $3 million, and they sold on average in about 23 days. And that's compared to about $2.24 million for a single-family home in all of Marin, which took about 24 days to sell. Coming in at number 4 on the list is the city of Kentfield. Kentfield is an unincorporated town in Marin about a mile farther from SF than Larkspur. The town is located between Larkspur and Greenbrae to the south and east, and Ross and San Rafael to the north. It's a similar size to Larkspur, it's about 3 square miles with under 7,000 residents, so it's a pretty small town. From a commute perspective, it takes about 30 minutes to get to San Francisco with no traffic, and if you don't want to drive, you can take the ferry at Larkspur Landing to the city. As far as lifestyle, living in Kentfield is like living in a nature preserve. It is one of the most beautiful towns in California. Property in Kentfield is generally set back from the street, so it's really great for privacy and seclusion., and a lot of the lots there are very oversized, very lush green settings. There are a few restaurants in Kentfield, but it's not really a destination for people looking for a night out. Guest House is my favorite restaurant in the area and serves great American food and cocktails. Although there's not a lot to do in Kentfield itself, residents there have very easy access to, you know, shopping and restaurants of Larkspur, San Anselmo, San Rafael,, and also access to like the hiking and biking trails of Mount Tam and Phoenix Lake, which is at the edge of Mount Tam. And like many other neighborhoods in Marin, schools in Kentfield are among the best as well. The Kentfield School District has highly rated public schools all the way through high school. And there's also College of Marin there, which is known for its great theater department. 73 single-family homes sold in Kentfield since January of 2022 for an average of $3.9 million, and they took about 24 days on the market. And the average lot size of those homes was about 33,000 3,000 square feet, so you can really see how big these lots are. Coming in at number 3 is the town of Tiburon. Tiburon's a relatively small town. There are less than 10,000 people who live there. Tiburon occupies most of the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay, so it's surrounded by water on all 3 sides. It's about 6 miles north of SF, and there is ferry service in Tiburon that will take you to SF, so it's pretty easy to commute to the city without having to drive if you don't want to. and because of its location, homes there, which start very close to the shore and go all the way up into the hills, um, have like incredible, incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco skyline, the San Francisco Bay, Angel Island, and Alcatraz. The Tiburon Historical Trail and San Francisco Bay Trail are very popular for hiking and biking. Boating is very popular in the town of Tiburon. There are multiple yacht clubs in Tiburon, and there are even communities in Tiburon like Paradise Cay, where all of the houses have their own private docks. So boating is very, very popular in the town. There are also ferries you can take, not just to San Francisco, but to Angel Island State Park from Tiburon directly. So if you want to spend an afternoon like hiking or picnicking on Angel Island, or if you do want to go to the city and, you know, shop and eat in the city, it's super easy to do. The main street in downtown Tiburon is like a tiny little fishing village vibe. It's, you know, it's not very big, but there are some great boutiques and great dining and bars in the area. If you somehow get bored living in Tiburon, it's very close close to the town of Mill Valley, which is right next door. Mill Valley has one of the cutest downtowns in all of Marin with great shopping, great restaurants, and great outdoor activities as well. So you can take advantage of amenities of nearby towns of Mill Valley. There are 136 homes that sold in Tiburon since January of 2022 for an average of $4.1 million. And those homes took about 22 days to sell. The average lot size of those homes is about 18,000 square feet. Not as big as the lots that I just talked about in Kentfield, but the lots in Tiburon tend to have ocean views or San Francisco views that you don't necessarily get in Kentfield, which explains why, you know, it's more expensive for smaller land. Coming in at number 2 is Belvedere. Belvedere is a tiny sliver of the Tiburon Peninsula, about 4 miles north of San Francisco. Belvedere consists of 2 islands with Belvedere Lagoon between them. Belvedere Island is the larger of the 2, and Corinthian Island is, uh, the smaller one. It's shared with Tiburon. And Belvedere is super small. It's just about 2.4 square miles long. Commuting to San Francisco from Belvedere, it's about 30 minutes. It will take a little bit longer. If you don't want to drive, if you want to take the ferry, you can drive to Tiburon and then catch the ferry from Tiburon. As far as lifestyle goes, most of the homes in Belvedere are either waterfront or have water views. Homes on the Belvedere Lagoon have their own private docks and backyards have direct lagoon access, so you regularly see people swimming, kayaking, canoeing in the lagoon. As you get up into the hills away from the flat lagoon area, the terrain offers incredible views of the bay, the San Francisco skyline, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Homes in Belvedere are among the most sought after in all of Marin because of those views and the exclusivity and the privacy that comes with living there. It's a bit of a pain to get to some of those homes because a lot of the streets are super, you know, windy, narrow roads, especially as you get higher up on the island. But, you know, with that comes exclusivity and privacy that you're not going to get anywhere else. Belvedere was once a fishing community, but today it's very popular for sailing. There are two famous private yacht clubs in the area, and it's a very small population. Of about 2,000 people are actually very active at those clubs. Like Tiburon, Belvedere is part of the Reed Union School District, so you get access to the same great schools as Tiburon. There's not a ton of trading in Belvedere compared to other parts of Marin. Only 38 homes have sold there since January of 2022 for an average about $5.9 million. And because they're more expensive, they tend to spend more time on the market, about 50 days. And the average lot size in Belvedere is smaller than a lot of the other cities in Marin, about 10,000 square feet. And coming at number 1, the most expensive place to live in Marin based on the average single-family home price since January of 2022 is the town of Ross. Ross is my favorite town in Marin. Every home there is so gorgeously landscaped and so many of the homes are architecturally significant and they sprawl across these massively large flat lots. Um, there are less than 1,000 homes in Ross and many of them were built in the 1800s as holiday homes. For people who wanted to vacation from San Francisco. The town is located about 18 miles north of the city. It's only 1.6 square miles large with under 3,000 residents. So it's very, very small. It rivals Belvedere in terms of its exclusivity. Commuting to SF without traffic is around 35 minutes, give or take. But you can also drive over to nearby Larkspur and take the ferry or the commuter bus as well. As far as lifestyle, Ross is like the most peaceful, quiet town. There's not that many shops or restaurants, but there are a few. Like, there's a really cute, you know, boutique-y, small, charming downtown. But what it lacks in variety of, like, food, it does make up for with nature. The Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross is a gorgeous nature preserve in the heart of town. It is great for picnicking or just laying out outside. The weather in Ross tends to be warmer. It is incredible because it's protected by a lot of these mountainsides and hillsides, so it is great for just being outside, biking, hiking, or just lounging around. Residents there, like Kentfield residents, have easy access to Mount Tam and Phoenix Lake, and you often see people running or biking around the largely flat city. Ross is located right next to Kentfield and San Anselmo, so from a, you know, outdoor amenity perspective, all the great things that those towns have to offer, you get in Ross as well. And if you didn't already guess, Ross schools are among the in Marin, which is one of the reasons why housing there, uh, tends to be more expensive. 25 single-family homes have sold in Ross since January of 2022 for an average of $6.3 million, and those homes took about 37 days on the market to sell. And the average lot size is about 1.5 acres or over 60,000 square feet. So that is why not only is the area one of the most desirable in Marin, but the lot sizes tend to be so large, which explains why houses there tend to be more expensive. There you have it. Those are the 5 most expensive places to live in Marin from a housing perspective. If you're thinking about relocating or want more information about any of these markets, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I'd be more than happy to help you. And if you like videos just like this, please subscribe to my channel and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video.