Marin County Apartment Rents Rose 12.3% in 2014

San Rafael – Last year saw another steep climb for Marin County rents with an estimated 12.3% increase in 2014 according to a report from Novato based rental survey company Real Facts.

Continued hiring in the San Francisco technology sector has increased the demand for rental housing in the region. With the lowest unemployment rate in the region at 3.4%, new hires are flocking to Marin County apartment rentals as rents in San Francisco have sky rocketed.

In Marin, the average asking rent is now $2,380, according to Real Facts. That number is expected to rise again in 2015 by at least 5-6%.

A recent rental survey from this office of advertised rents in each Marin city found starting rents for one and two bedrooms to be:

With the rising rents comes building appreciation.

Our office just recently sold a renovated five unit Victorian in Gerstle Park, San Rafael, for $ 1,485,000 or $297,000 per unit. The cap rate was 4.5% at the time of sale which is the median rate for apartment units in Marin County.

Another recent sale was four separate duplexes on a nearly one acre lot in San Rafael. This was an off market sale that was closed by this office for $2,100,000. Rents at the property were approximately 35% below current market rents.

The largest Marin County sale to date was a totally reconstructed 38 unit property in Mill Valley that included over $1 million in improvements over a several year period. The property recently sold to a San Francisco REIT for $13,850,000 or $364,000 per unit.

Apartment inventory in Marin County still remains low so we expect to see continued price appreciation in 2015.

Current activity from our office includes:

• Just Sold
  608 C Street, San Rafael, 5 renovated units for $1,485,000
• Just Sold
  10-24 Davenport Court, San Rafael, 8 units in 4 duplexes for $2,100,000
• Available
  835 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. San Anselmo, 4 large units full rented with parking and laundry
  Asking $1,354,000