Wine Country Group Results for September and 3rd Quarter, 2011:

The Wine Country Group had 94 closings this September compared to 42 in September 2010.  This is the highest number of closings that we have ever had in the month of September.  Our dollar volume was  $41 million compared to $19.7 million last year and is the highest dollar volume we have experienced for any September since 10/05.  Our Sebastopol office led our offices with 27 closings for the month while Santa Rosa had 24 and Sonoma had 21.  The Sonoma office led with dollar volume of $10,878,800, sneaking ahead of Sebastopol that had $10,745,652.  Our average closing sales price was $436,063, rebounding from  $290,296 last month and comparing to $470,066 a year ago.  Our escrow openings totaled 99 units, which is 125% higher than the 44 new escrows last August.  We had 55 new listings compared to 38 a year ago.

For the 3rd Quarter of 2011, The Wine Country Group had 236 closings compared to 202 in the 3rd Q, 2010.  Dollar Volume equaled $90 million compared to $88.1 million in 2010.

Our offices remain number one in market share in Sebastopol (22.1%), Healdsburg (18.3), Cloverdale (23.5%) and the Sonoma Valley (16.9%) markets.  We’ve improved our market share in Up Valley Napa Valley to 9.6% achieving #3 in the market.  In the overall Sonoma County market, The Wine Country Group enjoys a 9.6% market share – 2nd in the whole county.

The Wine Country Group currently has 109 pending sales with a value of $53 million dollars.  We have 261 active listings with a value of $197 million dollars.  That’s an average listing price of $753,103.

September, 2011 – Wine Country Market Analysis

Sonoma County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (1,813) in Sonoma County at the end of September was 28.5% lower than last year (2,536) and roughly equal to the supply last month (1,830).  New sales in August (633) were 63.6% ahead of the pace in September 2010 (387) and they were 8.6% ahead of the pace of last month (583). This is the highest level of new sales for Sonoma County for any month since August 2005.  There is only a 2.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – a continuing indication of a trend towards a “seller’s” market.  The median price of homes closed in September in Sonoma County was $322,000 and was 6% below the median price of homes sold a year ago ($344,000) but it was the highest median price since November 2010.   Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 29% of the available inventory, 56% of new sales and 48% of closings for the month.  At this time last year, 41% of the inventory consisted of distressed properties.  There is only a 1.5 months supply of distressed properties available.   The median price on the distressed sales is equal to $255,000 thereby heavily affecting the overall median price in the County.   Since distressed property inventory has stabilized over the past several months, there seems to be a steady supply coming on the market that is being rapidly absorbed.

Sonoma Valley Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (225) at the end of September in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) was down 22% from the month of September 2010 (290).  It was 7.4% lower than that of a month ago (243).  There were 59 new sales for the month that is a whopping 136% higher than that of a year ago (25) and equal to that of last month (60).  There is currently a 3.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the homes closed (49) in the Valley in August was $410,000 compared to $515,000 last month and $500,000 a year ago.  This number is jumping around quite a bit based on whether there are substantial high-end closings in a particular month.  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) in the Sonoma Valley in September represent 20% of the inventory, 52.5% of the new sales and 45% of the closings.  This compares to 28% of the inventory, 44% of new sales and 29% of closings in September 2010.  There is only a 1.5 months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (123) in Healdsburg at the end of September was down 17% from that of last year (149) and was equal to that of last month.  New sales (17) were 42% higher than the 12 new sales in September 2010 and were in line with the sales over the past year.  Only 6.5% of the inventory consists of “distressed properties” (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure).   35% of the new sales were distressed properties and 36% of the closings were distressed properties.  There is a 7.2 months supply of inventory based on the overall inventory and sales pace, and only a one month supply of inventory based on the inventory and sales pace of distressed properties.

Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (65) at the end of September 2011 was 12% below that of a year ago (74) and was slightly above the inventory last month (60).  Cloverdale is not following the trend in the rest of Wine Country where inventory is falling significantly year over year.  Sales for the month of September (16) were 23% ahead of the pace of a year ago (13) and were off 24% from the new sales reported last month (21).  There is a 4.1 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales indicating a balanced market.   26% of the inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 81% of the new sales and 72% of the closings for the month are distressed properties – a strong influence on the overall market.  But last year at this time, 51% of the inventory consisted of distressed properties.

Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (112) in Sebastopol at the end of September was 17% below that of September 2010 (135) and it was slightly below that of last month (114).  There were 20 new sales for the month that is 17% below the pace of that of a year ago (24) and 33% below that of last month (30).  Distressed properties represent 16% of the inventory, 35% of the new sales for the month and 22% of the closings.   There is a 2.6 months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Windsor Trends: The inventory of homes for sale in Windsor (99) at the end of September was 31% lower than the inventory (14) in September 2010 and was equal to the 97 units available last month.  There were 53 new sales of homes and condominiums in Windsor in September, which is 112% higher than the 25 sales in September of 2010 and 18% higher than the 45 sales last month.  The 53 sales last month were the highest for any single month since April of 2005.  There is just a 1.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace, so Windsor remains the hottest market in Wine Country.  58% of the available inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) while 58% of the new sales and 58% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.

Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (573) in Santa Rosa (MLS Marketing Areas) at the end of September was 35% lower than a year ago (888) and equal to the supply last month (570).  New sales in September (261) were 63% ahead of the pace in September 2010 (160) and they were 16% ahead of the pace of last month (225).   This is the highest level of new sales for Santa Rosa for any month since June 2005.  There is only 2.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – an indication a “seller’s” market.  The median price of homes closed in September in Santa Rosa was $261,000 and was 16% below the median price of homes sold a year ago ($312,000).  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 39% of the available inventory, 59% of new sales and 55% of closings for the month.  At this time last year, 51% of the inventory consisted of distressed properties.  There is only a 1.4 months supply of distressed properties available.

Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (197) in Petaluma at the end of September was 36% lower than a year ago (307) and was equal to the supply last month (191).  New sales in September (75) were 53% ahead of the pace in September 2010 (49) and they were 10% ahead of the pace of last month (68). There is only a 2.6 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – an indication of a “seller’s” market.  The median price of homes closed in September in Petaluma was $385,000 and was 4% below the median price of homes sold a year ago ($400,000) but was equal to, or better than, the median price of sold homes in Petaluma over the last nine months. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 31% of the available inventory, 57% of new sales and 49% of closings for the month.

Napa County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale at the end of September in Napa County (652) was 34% below the inventory (994) at this time last year and was 5% lower than the inventory in August (683).  New sales (157) were 35% ahead of the pace of a year ago (116) and equal to that of last month (156).  The months of inventory available at the current sales pace is 4.2 months – a sign of a balanced market.  The median price of homes sold ($322,000) was 5% lower than the median price of a year ago ($340,000), and it is a bit lower than the median price over the last nine months.  19% of the current listings in Napa County are distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure).  64% of the new sales and 51% of the closed sales for the month are distressed properties.  At this time a year ago, 36% of the inventory consisted of distressed properties.  There is only a 1.3 months supply of distressed properties on the market based on the current sales pace, so it appears that buyers are responding to the values available in most of these distressed properties where the median price of the sales for last month was $255,000.

The city of Napa figures generally mirror the county figures.  The inventory (385) is off 35% from a year ago (595), new sales (100) are 28% ahead of a year ago and there is 3.9 months of available inventory at the current sales pace.  The median price for homes closed in Napa in the month of September was $293,000 – off from $336,000 a year ago.  The City of Napa has similar ratios with regard to the impact of distressed properties on the market – there is only a 1.4 months supply of distressed properties.  American Canyon remains short on inventory as there are just a 1.5 month supply based on new sales and the impact of distressed properties is the highest in the County:  62% of inventory, 91% of new sales and 90% of closings.

St. Helena/Up Valley Trends: The St. Helena/Up Valley market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville), inventory at the end of September was 196 units, down 23% from 256 a year ago and down from 207 last month.   There were 16 new sales in the month of September compared to 12 in September of last year and 20 last month.   Just 9% of the inventory consists of distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 50% (8) of the new sales for the month were distressed properties.

 

Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from September 15 to October 10, 2011:

In our Healdsburg office:  Jane and Ron Pavelka, Nicki Rector, Penelope La Montagne and Kent Mitchell had two closings each;  Carolina Avila, Jennifer Arvilla, Linda Farwell, Bernie Curley, Michael Downes, Ann Amtower, and Deke Dekay and Diane Harris each had a closing.

In our Napa and St. Helena offices:  Gina Papele White, Linda Alioto, Lark Raymond, and Nick Simone each had a closing.

In our Petaluma office:  John O’Keefe, Sharon Vallejo and Karen Karlow each had a closing.

In our Santa Rosa offices:  Charles Himes and Larry Tristano had seven closings;  Coralee Barkela and Jill Rake had three closings each;  Lila Mathia had two closings and Carlos Rivas, Suzanne Drace, Gus Kyriakos, Mark Payne, Leslie Myers Davis and Chari Johnke each had a closing.

In our Sebastopol office: Jeffrey Seligson had four closings;  Gene Bonino and Michael Friedenberg had three closings each;  Doug Schaeffer and Cary Fargo, Lisa Dawson, Bette Meritt and Sarah Hylton had two closings each;  and Laurie Parris, Cathy Wild, Thom Stone, William Kent, Bill Cole, Pam Buda, Liz Uribe, Cecilia Wilcoxen, Lindsey Kennedy, Sandy Mays, Eric Lucas, Kristen Downing, Rita DeSouza, Sandie Schach, Cory Maguire, and Lori Sacco each had a closing.

And, in our Sonoma office:  Sheila Deignan, Erin George and Kendra Martin each had three closings;  Dan Gallagher had two closings;  and, Mara Kahn, Shanis Nelson, Rob Jones and Mari Johnson each had a closing.

Congratulations to all!