Homes like this one on Arroyo Drive listed at $1.6 million may be seeing an uptick in demand.
New Trend for Marina’s Housing Market?
What is the trend in Marina housing?
Homes priced under $1 million seem to be selling much quicker in Marina, while homes hovering around $1.2 million or $1.3 million might take months. That’s the recent trend — or is it?
Currently, there are 11 homes in Marina priced above $1 million that have been on the market for more than 30 days. The highest priced home for sale in Marina on the MLS, 465 Russell Way for $1.725 million has been on the market 186 days. Four other homes priced over $1 million have been on the market for more than 20 days.
There are just six homes priced below $1 million that have been on the market for more than 30 days, the longest being 224 Palm Avenue for $699,000 for 191 days. It is being rented and occupied, so always more difficult to sell. So, it’s definitely harder to find those homes under $1 million.
Since Aug. 1, of the 21 homes sold in Marina and East Garrison, just four were priced above $1 million. Those four homes took an average of 99 days to sell, mostly due to 3011 Arroyo Circle being on the market for about 9 months. The 17 homes below $1 million sold in a third of that time — 33 days.
That’s been the trend. However, five homes in Marina sold in October and while three were listed under $1 million, all were on the market much longer than the two homes above $1 million that were sold. On the average, the lower priced homes were on the market for 62 days, while the homes above $1 million sold in 17 days. Is this just a blip in the stats? Will more expensive homes start moving quicker as inflation dulls and rates dip? My guess is that it’s a combination of a small sample size that is over inflating what could be a slight trend in the market, but we shall see.
Two homes have come onto the market in the past week: 485 Forest Circle and 5005 3rd Avenue. Both are listed at $855,000. 485 Forest Circle is a 3-bed, two bath home with 1,670 SF, while 5005 3rd Avenue is a 2-bedroom, 3-bathroom home with 1,523 SF. You can scroll through all the homes for sale in Marina here.
Housing on Council’s Agenda
City Council has a busy agenda Wednesday filled with items regarding the city’s burgeoning housing developments.
Near the top of the agenda, the council consider approving the final map for the Dunes on Monterey Bay Development. The origins of this decision date back to 2005, when the city certified the final EIR for the University Village Development, along with the design of retail space and the residential phases of the development. Those plans have gone through modifications, most recently in 2022.
More recently, Shea Homes has submitted its plans for Phase 3 with 129 more residential lots. City staff approved the plans on Oct. 22, however, the staff report only asks City Council to consider the request for possible action. Often times, city staff requests a certain action, so this might be an interesting discussion. As far as fiscal impact, the staff report says the city requires the developer to provide evidence of its ability to the complete the public improvements by posting a bond equal to the amount of the cost of those improvements — things like curbs, gutters, street lights, storm drains, some small parks, and accessible restroom facilities.
Not long after the council address this, it will hold a public hearing regarding the establishment of the Dunes West Side Services Community Facilities District. As discussed earlier, this seems to be a no-brainer. The new district would levy a special tax on homeowners within the district to pay for some of the costs of maintaining the area. The way in which this is done in California is interesting. The City Council will both vote to hold an election, and open ballots on the same night. There are only four landowners who will vote.
Also up for discussion, the City Council is being asked to waive any concerns of a conflict of interest for the firm Goldfab & Lipman as the law firm, representing the city in land use and development matters related to former Fort Ord land, as it also represents the developer of a proposed 23-unit housing facility known as Marina Kai.
The last half of the meeting will be dominated by “Other Action Items,” including a presentation on a new inclusive playground at Dunes City Park where city leaders will be asked to enter into an agreement with Leathers and Associates for design services, project management and construction supervision of the new playground for $1.7 million. The city will also review its Mobile Vending Ordinance.
Regulations for mobile vending were codified in 2023. Since then, the Community Development Dept. has issued two sidewalk vending licenses for the sale of strawberries and flowers in the public right-of-way, and two mobile food vending licenses. One is for the sale of ice cream and another is a mobile taco truck.
According to the city staff report, from time to time, unlicensed sidewalk vendors operate in parking lots and on sidewalks throughout the city. After they are contacted by the code enforcement officer that both a City business license and a sidewalk vending license are required for them to operate, they leave that spot and just set up elsewhere. However, the city has not received complaints from residents or from Walmart, whose parking lot many of these unlicensed vendors have been operating. So, city staff would like to require mobile vendors to put a “No Smoking” sign on their trucks and notify all brick-and-mortar restaurants of this new requirement to the mobile vendors.
The staff report also says that the few number of food vendors is more likely due to the county’s complicated requirements for mobile food vendors than the city’s applications process, which is fairly simple.
The public meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. after the council meets in Closed Session to hold an evaluation of the City Manager’s performance and engage in negotiations with the California State Parks over the price and terms of the Marina Animal Shelter.
Imjin Parkway Project
Construction on the project continues to fall further behind, with the opening of Preston Drive now scheduled for “early November.” According to imjinparkway.com, street lights between Reservation and Preston will be installed by Nov. 8. Around Nov. 11, night work is planned to build the transition roadway west or Preston back over to the existing traffic lanes on the south side of the concrete barriers. Preston was originally planned to be open in September.
Police Reports
Oct. 31
• A 31-year-old man was arrested and charged with possession of narcotics and failure to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge.
Oct. 30
• A 67-year-old man was arrested and charged with probation violation and DUI on Reservation Road.
• A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with driving a motorcycle without a license or registration, and engaging in a speed contest and causing bodily injury at the intersection of Reservation and De Forest.
• A petty theft of an elderly person was reported on Dunes Road.
Oct. 29
• A 33-year-old woman on Palm Avenue was arrested and charged with identity theft, possession of burglary tools, narcotics, and having an outstanding warrant.
Oct. 28
• A 40-year-old woman on Hillcrest Avenue was charged with embezzlement of more than $950.
Oct. 27
• A 30-year-old man was charged with DUI on Blanco Road.
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This report was created by Jon Chown, Renee Mello & Associates (DRE#02040730). Call (831)-869-2484 if you would like to buy or sell a home in Marina.