If you're wondering, "could we be in a real estate bubble," think again.

Homeowner equity in the Bay Area has soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis of mortgages and home values by the real estate analytics firm Attom. Equity is the difference between what a homeowner owes on a house and what a house is worth. Equity rich, according to Attom, means the estimated loans on the property do not exceed 50% of its value. Marin County was among the top eight “equity rich” places in the United States. Between the second quarter of 2000 and the second quarter of this year, the number of equity-rich properties rose from 54% to 64%, according to Attom’s data. The median value of a detached home in Marin was $1.8 million in July, up from $1.55 million in July 2020, according to the county assessor’s office.

In the first six months of 2021, almost $3.5 Billion in home sales were reported to the MLS in Marin County, 65% over the previous peak in 2020.

11% of Marin County homes sales reported to the MLS were marketed off MLS. As the sales price increased, the percentage of sales occurring off MLS soared. 43% of off MLS sales of $5M or above were with Compass.

Marin sales are seasonally affected. There is typically a very strong and busy Spring season beginning in February and peaking in May followed by a summer lull and a second wave of sales from mid August through October and a quieter period from November through January. The pandemic in 2020 upended that fluctuation as people were not able to travel in 2020. The natural peaks and valley resumed in 2021 with many leaving for summer vacation after school let out in mid June.

Inventory throughout Marin plummeted in 2020 and into the Spring 2021 as people raced to buy homes. The amount of homes have been slowly started to come back but seem to be absorbed almost as quickly as they come on the market. There seems to be an uptick in inventory in the past few weeks as Sellers bring their homes on before the end of year slowdown.