The primary buyer demographic for Marin County communities like Mill Valley are Bay Area families, primarily moving from San Francisco coming to escape the fog and gain access to Mill Valley’s renown public schools. Demand for Mill Valley homes follows an annual seasonal cycle: Spring is the most competitive time of the year amongst Mill Valley home buyers with families hoping to be situated for the following school year. The Spring market usually starts after the Super Bowl in early February and tapers off in late June. Things usually slow down significantly July and August before picking back up mid-September for another rush which ends abruptly on Thanksgiving. Off season buying is a great time to find a “value” but there are usually less homes on the market during these times to choose from.
Mill Valley is centrally located in Marin County– fairly equidistant from Sausalito, Tiburon, Corte Madera, Larkspur and Kentfield; and approximately equidistant from San Francisco, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael and Fairfax. This characteristic lends itself to evening and weekend sojourns to other nearby towns for movies, dinners, tennis and swim clubbing, and public parks / open space access. Nothing in Marin– or San Francisco for that matter– is really “too far away” from Mill Valley.
Mill Valley properties are comprised of many different neighborhoods located both within the “incorporated” town of Mill Valley as well as other parts that are “unincorporated” such as Strawberry, Tam Valley, parts of Homestead Valley etc. When looking for homes in Mill Valley it is important to understand the intricacies of varying neighborhood weather, traffic patterns and public school system access. Non rush hour driving time to the financial district in San Francisco, ranges from 20 to 30 minutes and almost twice that during rush hour.
The weather year-round in Mill Valley is fantastic. Spring in Mill Valley is characteristically breezy with typical lows in the high forties and highs in the upper sixties to lower 70’s. Summer is generally characterized by higher low temps-low mid to 50’s and temperamental highs ranging from breezy 60’s to gorgeous 80’s. Fall is generally the best weather of the year and even warmer than summer. Winter runs the gamut from cold, clear nights, sometimes (though not often) reaching below freezing, to strong pacific storms that bring rain (and heavy snowfalls to the Sierras), and beautiful winter days that typically reach into the low 60’s and sometimes higher. Almost every winter you can count on a string beautiful January and/or February days in the 60s. The more outdoor activities one enjoys (think sailing, surfing and snow), the more conscious one is of our wonderful seasons and changing weather patterns.