What a local Sausalito agent helps you decide
Sausalito is a city of 2.257 square miles on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge, and it sells very few homes. Redfin counted 36 sales in the three months to September 2026, with 19 homes for sale at the end of the period. With a market that thin, a single expensive hillside sale or a run of condo sales can swing the median by hundreds of thousands of dollars. A local agent's first job is to price one specific property against the right handful of comparable sales, not against a citywide figure.
The second job is matching the home type to your budget. Sausalito has detached houses on steep lots, small apartment and condo buildings near Bridgeway, and floating homes on Richardson Bay that are bought and financed differently from land-based homes. Census estimates for 2020-2024 count 4,510 housing units in the city: 1,887 detached single-family homes, 845 attached single-family homes, 1,160 in buildings of two to four units and 599 in buildings of five or more. That mix means 58% of the city's homes are attached or in multi-unit buildings, so the condo and townhouse market is a large part of local real estate.
The third job is the address itself. A 94965 mailing address can sit inside the City of Sausalito or in unincorporated Marin County, including Marin City, and the rules on permits, rentals and parking follow the jurisdiction, not the ZIP.
Buying a home in Sausalito
Redfin's median sale price in Sausalito was $1,574,250 for the three months to September 2026, 17.1% lower than a year earlier on just 36 sales. Zillow's typical home value, which estimates the value of all homes rather than only those that sold, was $1,589,416 in September 2026, up 3.9% in a year. The two measures disagree on direction because the sales sample is so small. Here is how a purchase usually runs.
Step 1 for Sausalito buyers: set a budget at a 7.24% rate
At Freddie Mac's 30-year average of 7.24% (week of October 29, 2026), a buyer putting 20% down ($314,850) on the Redfin median of $1,574,250 pays about $8,583 a month in principal and interest. The 1% base property tax adds about $1,312 a month before any voter-approved bonds, and insurance and HOA or berth fees come on top. Jumbo loan terms vary widely at this price, so compare at least two lenders.
Step 2 for Sausalito buyers: choose the home type first
In ZIP 94965, Redfin's median over the three months to September 2026 was $1,712,068 for single-family homes, $1,210,002 for townhouses and $1,012,470 for condos. Townhouses and condos took a median 54 and 61 days to sell, against 17 days for houses, so attached homes usually leave more room to negotiate. Our Sausalito condo guide covers the attached market in detail.
Step 3 for Sausalito buyers: write an offer for a fast house market
Single-family homes in 94965 sold at 106.1% of list price on average, and two in three sold above list (Redfin, three months to September 2026). For houses, expect to compete. Citywide, the average was 101.95% of list and 28.6% sold above it, because condos and townhouses pulled the figure down. Ask your agent for the list-to-sale history of the last three comparable sales on the same hillside or building.
Step 4 for Sausalito buyers: inspect slope, foundation and parking
The city describes itself as a hillside town where many residential areas lack parking for the number of vehicles, and some streets need a residential area permit to park overnight. For a hillside house, add a foundation, drainage and retaining-wall review to the general inspection. For a floating home, a separate survey of the float and the berth lease terms come first; see the floating homes section below.
Selling a home in Sausalito
Sellers are listing into a tight but price-sensitive market. Redfin reported 30 new listings and 1.7 months of supply in Sausalito over the three months to September 2026, and 38.5% of homes went under contract within two weeks. Zillow reports that 21.2% of listings in the San Francisco metro had a price cut in September 2026.
Step 1 for Sausalito sellers: price from your own home type
Redfin's median price per square foot in Sausalito was $961.70 in the three months to September 2026, down 6.6% on a year earlier. In 94965 it ranged from $734.83 for townhouses to $1,075.66 for single-family homes. A comparative market analysis built from the wrong type will miss by a wide margin. Check our Sausalito housing market report for the latest figures.
Step 2 for Sausalito sellers: order disclosures before listing
California sellers give buyers a Transfer Disclosure Statement and a Natural Hazard Disclosure. Along the bay, the flood zone line matters; on the hills, landslide and seismic hazard zones do. Ordering the hazard report before you list avoids surprises in escrow. Our California seller disclosure guide lists every form.
Step 3 for Sausalito sellers: plan for a small buyer pool
With 36 sales in three months, a listing in Sausalito competes for a small number of active buyers. Redfin's median days on market was 32 citywide. Price close to the market from the first day, since a price cut on a thin market is visible to every buyer watching the city. Our how to sell a house in California guide covers the full timeline.
Step 4 for Sausalito sellers: work out your net
Closing costs include escrow, title, county transfer tax and any commission you agree to pay. On a $1,574,250 sale, each 1% of commission is $15,742. See our California transfer tax guide and California closing costs guide.
Sausalito areas at a glance
Zillow does not publish neighborhood values inside Sausalito, and the whole city shares one ZIP, 94965. Zillow's typical value for that ZIP was $1,591,406 in September 2026, up 3.8% in a year. The areas below are described from the city's own maps and facility lists rather than from price data.
Downtown Sausalito: Bridgeway, Caledonia Street and the ferry
City Hall and the public library sit at 420 Litho Street, off Caledonia Street, and the Golden Gate Ferry leaves from downtown for San Francisco. Expect to weigh walking distance to the ferry and shops against street noise and visitor parking. Residents at eligible 94965 addresses can enroll in the city's Resident Parking Benefit program for three hours of free parking in the downtown public lots.
The Marinship waterfront: Marinship Way and Liberty Ship Way
The north waterfront is lined with marinas listed by the city: Clipper Yacht Harbor at 310 Harbor Drive with 700 slips, Schoonmaker Point Marina on Liberty Ship Way and Sausalito Shipyard and Marina at 2350 Marinship Way, which berths houseboats among other vessels. The Bay Model Visitor Center, run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is at 2100 Bridgeway.
Floating homes at Waldo Point Harbor and Gate 6 Road
Waldo Point Harbor, at the northern end of Richardson Bay, is a privately owned marina with 282 floating home berths. Each home is privately owned and leases its berth from the harbor, which says every berth has been occupied since the 1970s. Richardson Bay Marina at 100 Gate 6 Road and Galilee Harbor, a live-aboard cooperative at 300 Napa Street, are nearby. Floating Home Living, a local brokerage, reports 14 floating home sales in 2026 to early September at a median of $1,125,000, based on BAREIS MLS records.
The Sausalito hills above Bridgeway
The city calls itself a hillside town, and away from the shoreline many detached houses sit on sloped lots where views and lot shape can matter as much as square footage. The Census puts the median year built for Sausalito housing at 1964, so many hillside homes have decades of additions and repairs to review. Redfin's median for single-family homes in 94965 was $1,712,068 in the three months to September 2026.
Nevada Street: the K-8 school campus
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, the Sausalito Marin City School District's K-8 school, is at 636 Nevada Street, the same campus Willow Creek Academy used before that charter closed in 2021. Being near a school is not the same as being served by it: use the district boundary map. See our Sausalito schools guide for Dashboard results.
Marin City and unincorporated 94965
Marin City is an unincorporated community that shares the 94965 ZIP; the school district's office is at 200 Phillips Drive there. County rules, not city rules, apply to permits and rentals on those parcels. Redfin tracks it separately and counted four sales in the three months to September 2026, too few for a reliable median.
Local property checks before you buy in Sausalito
These checks catch most of the costs and limits that are specific to a Sausalito address.
- Short-term rental ban. The city does not allow rentals of less than 30 days in any residential zone, and fines run $1,000 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second and $5,000 after that. If your plan depends on rental income, model only long-term leases.
- Flood and bay frontage. Look up the parcel on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, especially along the Marinship and the downtown shore. A mapped flood zone affects insurance and lender requirements.
- Fire and slope. Check the CAL FIRE hazard zone for hillside parcels and read the Natural Hazard Disclosure. Our California wildfire zones guide explains each tier, and the California earthquake insurance guide covers seismic cover.
- Insurance. Get at least two quotes before removing contingencies. See our California homeowners insurance guide and California FAIR Plan guide.
- HOA dues, berth fees and taxes. Condos carry HOA dues and floating homes carry a monthly berth lease. Ask for the HOA budget or berth agreement and the last tax bill, which lists bonds and special assessments. Our Marin County property tax guide explains the bill.
- Housing Element changes. Sausalito was allocated 724 new housing units for 2023-2031 and adopted an amended Housing Element in May 2025. Ask the Community Development Department whether any rezoned sites are near the home you are buying.
How to choose a real estate agent in Sausalito
Interview at least two agents and ask each the same questions. Check every license on the California Department of Real Estate public lookup before you sign anything.
- How many Sausalito sales have you closed in the last 12 months, and were they houses, condos or floating homes?
- Which three recent sales support your price for this home?
- Have you handled a floating home sale, and which lenders do you use for them?
- How do you check whether an address is in the city or unincorporated county?
- What is your fee, and what exactly does it cover?
Commission practice changed in August 2024 after the National Association of Realtors settlement. Buyers now sign a written agreement with their agent before touring, and it states how the agent is paid. Offers of buyer-agent pay no longer appear on MLS listings, so fees are negotiated directly. Our California real estate commission guide has the details.
If you would like a starting point, see our featured local agent for Sausalito. How we choose featured agents explains the process.
What buyers and sellers ask about Sausalito real estate
Are prices dropping? It depends on the measure. Zillow's typical value rose 3.9% in the year to September 2026 but was still 11.6% below its June 2022 peak of $1,798,564, while Redfin's three-month median fell 17.1% on a small number of sales. How many homes are owner-occupied? The Census counts 3,976 occupied homes, 59.6% owner-occupied, and 249 homes held for seasonal or occasional use. For a fuller picture read is Sausalito a good place to live, the Sausalito cost of living guide and the Sausalito ZIP code page, or browse ZIP 94965 market data and Marin County market data.