Wine Country Group Results for the Year 2011:
Certainly, the landscape of the Wine Country Group changed in 2011. We transitioned to an affiliation with a progressive national real estate brand and became part of one of the largest real estate companies in the country. In our market, we added offices in Sebastopol, Santa Rosa and Petaluma and became the second largest firm in the combined area of Sonoma and Napa Counties. We hold a 7% market share compared to the leading firm at 8.5%. In our individual markets, the Wine Country Group has number one market share in either (and/or both) units or dollar volume in Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Sebastopol and Sonoma. We have healthy market share in our Santa Rosa and St. Helena offices. Our goal is to improve on all of these stats in 2012.
We closed 894 sides in 2011 compared to 738 in 2010. Our dollar volume was $389 million compared to $330 million in 2010. Our average sales price declined slightly (-5.6%) from $460,739 to $434,809. Since our sales are generally spread across Wine Country, this is a fairly solid indicator of market price trends in our specific area.
Our Sonoma office enjoyed sales of 283 units and $113 million in dollar volume, our Sebastopol office had 234 sales and $94 million in dollar volume, and our Healdsburg office had 180 sales and $91 million in dollar volume for 2011. With Santa Rosa and Petaluma joining the Wine Country Group in September of 2011, we can expect improved production and referrals between our Wine Country network for 2012.
Wine Country Group Results for December 2011:
The Wine Country Group had 65 closings this December compared to 53 in December 2010. Our dollar volume, however, was $25 million compared to $30 million last year indicating we were dealing with lower priced homes this year compared to last. Our Sonoma and Sebastopol offices led our offices with 20 closings each while the Santa Rosa office had 15 closings. Our average closing sales price was $385,995 comparing to $585,769 a year ago. Our escrow openings totaled 63 units, which compares to 57 new escrows last December. We had 17 new listings compared to 32 a year ago, so it was a slow listing month.
The Wine Country Group currently has 89 pending sales with a value of $45 million dollars. We have 204 active listings with a value of $165 million dollars. That’s an average listing price of $808,000.
December, 2011 – Wine Country Market Analysis
Sonoma County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (1,193) in Sonoma County at the end of December was 40.2% lower than last year (1,995) and 20% lower than the supply last month (1,491). This is the lowest level of inventory of available homes in the County since April of 2005, over six years ago. New sales in November (554) were 61% ahead of the pace in December 2010 (341) and they were 6.1% ahead of the pace of last month (522). There is only a 2.2 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 December in Sonoma County was $300,000 and was 4.8% below the median price of homes sold a year ago, $315,000 but it was consistent with the median price over the past ten months. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 32% of the available inventory, 67% of new sales and 51% of closings for the month. There is only a 1 months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace. This is the lowest level of distressed inventory since June of 2007 when the inventory stood at 295 units. A year before that, June of 2006, there were just 9 foreclosures in the County. We don’t expect the supply of distressed properties to fall as quickly as they rose in 2006 and we expect them to influence the market through the next couple of years.
Interestingly, between January 2006 and January 2012, 24,758 homes sold in Sonoma County. 11,238 of them (45%) were distressed properties – two-thirds REOs and one-third short sales. Certainly, this ratio should be reduced moving into the future.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (36) at the end of December 2011 was 41% below that of a year ago (61) and was 23% below the inventory last month (47). This is the lowest level of inventory in Cloverdale since April 2005. Sales for the month of December (12) were slightly ahead of the pace of a year ago (11) and were 37% behind that of the new sales reported last month (19). There is a three months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. 33% of the inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 75% of the new sales and 50% of the closings for the month are distressed properties – a strong influence on the overall market. But last year at this time, 56% of the inventory consisted of distressed properties.
Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (71) in Healdsburg at the end of December was down 24% from that of last year (93) and was down 27% from last month (97). New sales (19) were up 36% from the 14 new sales in December 2010 and up 58% from the 12 sales last month. Only 10% of the inventory in Healdsburg consists of “distressed properties” (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), but 42% of the new sales were distressed properties and 20% of the closings were distressed properties. There is a 3.7 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. This shows the discretionary nature of the Healdsburg market that is similar, in this respect, to the Up Valley market in Napa County.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (140) in Petaluma at the end of December was 41% lower than a year ago (236) and was 16% lower than the supply last month (167). This is the lowest level of inventory in Petaluma since December of 2005, six years ago. New sales in December (71) were 69% ahead of the pace in December 2010 (42) and they were 13% ahead of the pace of last month (63). There is only a two months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – an indication of a “seller’s” market. The median price of homes closed in December in Petaluma was $399,000 compared to $319,000 in December 2010. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 34% of the available inventory, 61% of new sales and 45% of closings for the month.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (422) in Santa Rosa at the end of December was 47% lower than a year ago (803) and 21% lower than the supply last month (535). This is the lowest level of inventory in Santa Rosa since March 2005, over six years ago. New sales in December (254) were 73% ahead of the pace in December 2010 (147) and they were 11% ahead of the pace of last month (229). This is the highest level of new sales for Santa Rosa for any month since August 2005. There is only 1.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – an indication a “seller’s market”. The median price of homes closed in December in Santa Rosa was $265,000 and was 9% below the median price of homes sold a year ago, $291,000. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 42% of the available inventory, 68.5% of new sales and 55% of closings for the month. There is only a one month supply of distressed properties available. This is the lowest level of distressed property inventory since June of 2007. In June 2006, there were 5 distressed properties in inventory in Santa Rosa; in June 2007, there were 171 and in August 2008 there were 841. We don’t expect the inventory to fall the way that it increased through those years.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (66) in Sebastopol at the end of December was 29% below that of December 2010 (93) and it was 23% below that of last month (86). This is the lowest level of available homes for sale in Sebastopol since March 2005. There were 16 new sales for the month. This is equal to the pace of that of a year ago and just below that of last month (18). Distressed properties represent 18% of the inventory, 56% of the new sales for the month and 31% of the closings. There is just a 1.3 months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.
Sonoma Valley Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (153) at the end of December in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) was down 20% from the month of December 2010 (192). It was 12% lower than that of a month ago (174). This is the lowest level of inventory since May 2005. There were 41 new sales for the month that is 21% higher than that of a year ago (34) and slightly ahead of that of last month (39). There is currently a 3.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the homes closed (41) in the Valley in December was $400,000. This is 2% higher than $392,000 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 December (30) represent 20% of the inventory, 68% of the new sales and 51% of the closings. There is only a 1.1 months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.
Windsor Trends: The inventory of homes for sale in Windsor (54) at the end of December was 52% lower than the inventory (113) in December 2010 and was 30% lower than the 77 units available last month. This is the lowest inventory in Windsor since May 2005. There were 40 new sales of homes and condominiums in Windsor in December, which is 67% higher than the 24 sales in December of 2010 and 17% lower than the 48 sales last month. There is just a 1.4 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace, so Windsor remains the hottest market in Wine Country. 59% of the available inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) while 77% of the new sales and 53% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.
Napa County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale at the end of December in Napa County (504) was 36% below the inventory (784) at this time last year and was 13% lower than the inventory in November (580). This is the lowest inventory in Napa County since July 2005. New sales (148) were 61% ahead of the pace of a year ago (92) and 4.5% below that of last month (155). The months of inventory available at the current sales pace is 3.4 months – a sign of a balanced market. The median price of homes sold ($335,000) was 5% higher than the median price of a year ago ($320,000). 22% of the current listings in Napa County are distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure). 66% of the new sales and 48% of the closed sales for the month are distressed properties. There is only a 1.2 months supply of distressed properties on the market based on the current sales pace.
Interestingly, there have been 6,046 closings in Napa County between January 2006 and January 2012. 2,749, or 45%, of these closings were distressed sales, 70% REOs and 30% short sales. We do not see this ratio being sustained moving forward over the next couple of years.
The City of Napa figures generally mirror the county figures. The inventory (277) is off 43% from a year ago (485), new sales (99) are 65% ahead of a year ago and there is 2.8 months of available inventory at the current sales pace. The median price for homes closed in Napa in the month of December was $345,000 – up 11% from $310,000 a year ago. The City has similar ratios with regard to the impact of distressed properties on the market – there is only a one month supply of distressed properties.
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 December was 162 units, down 13% from 186 a year ago and down from 180 last month. This is the lowest level of inventory in St. Helena/Up Valley since January 2008, four years ago. There were 10 new sales in the month of December compared to 12 in December of last year and 15 last month. Just 10% of the inventory consists of distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 40% (4) of the new sales for the month were distressed properties and 50% of the closed sales were distressed properties.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from December 1 to December 31, 2011:
In our Healdsburg office: Jane and Ron Pavelka enjoyed four closings; Linda Farwell had two closings; Michael Downes, Susan Montgomery, Charlee Schanzer, Debbie Adler, Bernie Curley, Rico Ruthnick, Lisa Smith and Gina Cleaver each had a closing.
In our Petaluma office: Sharon Vallejo and Randy Benefield each had a closing.
In our Santa Rosa offices: Jennifer Arvilla enjoyed four closings; Larry Tristano and Charles Himes had three closings; the team of Suzanne O’Brien and Eileen O’Keefe, David Poulsen, Virginia Katz, Leslie Davis, Christen Hamilton, Chari Johnke, Tommy Apostolides and Jill Rake each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Cheryl Ellis, Lindsey Kennedy and Jeffrey Seligson had two closings each; Pam Buda, Will Kent, Lori Allen, Sarah Hylton, Sandie Schach, Kristin Downing, Laurie Parris, Gloria Epperson, Kari Garcia, Timothy Hedges, Glenn Stocki, Cathy Wild, Liz Uribe and Bette Meritt each had a closing.
And, in our Sonoma office: Erin George enjoyed four closings; Sheila Deignan, Mari Johnson, Barbara Sommerville and Leo Merle had two closings each; and Joyce Davison, Isaac Raboy, Diane Litchfield, Rob Jones, David Kerr, Tish Thames, Mara Kahn, Patti Keiser and Herb Heil each had a closing.
Congratulations to all!