The median house price in Marin County was $1.7 million in October, a 3% year-over-year decline as values rose 3.6% in the Bay Area generally, according to new sales data.

The Marin figure was also a decline from September, when it was $1.76 million. The median price is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.

Sales are on the upswing. Marin had 204 house sales last month, up 18% from the prior October, the county assessor’s office reported. Across the nine-county region, sales volume increased 16.2% over the prior year, according to the California Association of Realtors.

Patti Cohn, a Marin-based real estate agent with Compass, said she is optimistic about 2025 because of pent-up demand, a post-election-year “bump” and the possibility of lower interest rates. She said the market “really picked up” in the two weeks after the election.

“And now that Thanksgiving is here it’s slow again,” Cohn said Tuesday. “All those people that said they were ‘waiting until after the election’ actually were.”

Agents say that the end of the year can be a good time to buy because sellers listing now typically are doing so because they need to move, not because they want to. Plus, buyers can take advantage of reduced competition around the holiday season.

“In January, all the buyers come out to buy a house for their New Year’s resolution, and then they drive up prices again,” said Geri Stern, a real estate agent in Berkeley. “It’s just a function of the calendar.”

In Marin, Belvedere had a median house price of $7.2 million on five sales last month, according to county data. Tiburon’s median price was $4.06 million on seven sales. Sausalito’s was $3.8 million, but on one sale. The county recorded no sales in Ross last month.

Other median house prices in the county in October included $2.64 million on 16 sales in Mill Valley; $2.58 million on 12 sales in Larkspur; and $2.04 million on eight sales in San Anselmo.

The median in unincorporated Marin was $1.74 million on 72 house sales. Corte Madera had $1.71 million on 10 sales; San Rafael, $1.34 million on 26 sales; Novato, $1.23 million on 40 sales; and Fairfax, $1.05 million on seven sales.

In the Marin condominium and townhome market, the median price last month was $702,500, a 15% year-over-year decline, county data show.

For the Bay Area as a whole, the median price for a house was $1.32 million last month, up from $1.27 million the prior October, the California Association of Realtors said. The median prices included $1.75 million in San Francisco, a 6.1% year-over-year increase, and $826,710 in Sonoma County, down 3.6%

Elsewhere in the region, Alameda County was at $1.23 million, up 2.1%; Contra Costa County was at $869,500, up 5.4%; and Santa Clara County was at $1.99 million, up 10.2%.

Napa County’s median was $910,000 last month, down 11.4% over the previous October. San Mateo County was $2 million, down 4.8%, and Solano County was $603,000, down 2.7%.

Statewide, the median house price was $888,740 last month, up 5.8% over the prior October, the association reported.

The association said prices might fall as the market is heading into its “traditional off-season,” but overall they should still be higher than 12 months before.

“With the elections behind us and the Federal Reserve cutting rates again earlier this month, some buyers will take advantage of the seasonal lull and purchase before the end of the year,” said Jordan Levine, the association’s chief economist. “However, rates are also expected to decline only gradually, creating headwinds for consumers. Fortunately, pending sales rose by double digits in October, which bodes well for closed sales next month.”

The U.S. weekly average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.84% as of Nov. 21, up from 6.78% the prior week, according to Freddie Mac, the federally chartered mortgage company. A year ago, the average was 7.29%.

Mavis Delacroix, a real estate agent in Piedmont, said that she expects to see more activity once interest rates drop closer to 5%.

“Right now, consumers are underwhelmed by the interest rates,” she said. “When you have someone who refinanced their house at 3.5% and they have to buy at 6%, they don’t want to move.”

Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.