Wine Country Real Estate Trends in October 2012
Wine Country Group Results for October 2012
The Wine Country Group had 102 closings this October compared to 81 in October 2011. This is the highest number of closings that we have had in any October since our founding in 1996. Our dollar volume was $43 million compared to $31 million last year – a 40% increase. Our Sonoma office led with 26 closings in October while the Healdsburg offices had 21, the Sebastopol office had 19 closings, and the Santa Rosa office had 14. The Sonoma office also led in dollar volume closed with $10 million dollars in sales volume while the Sebastopol office had $9.5 million and the Santa Rosa office had $9.1 million. Our average closing sales price was $424,386 comparing to $380,272 a year ago – a 12% increase. Our escrow openings totaled 114 units compared to 93 in October 2011. This is an all-time record for new sales for the month of October. We had 30 new listings compared to 46 a year ago – off 35%. All indicators are that the market in the Wine Country is continuing to strengthen but we are short on inventory.
The Wine Country Group currently has 111 pending sales with a value of $67 million dollars. We have 136 active listings with a value of $122 million dollars. That’s an average listing price of $896,000 – up from an average of $737,000 a year ago. But we did have 241 listings this time a year ago.
The Wine Country Group currently enjoys number one market share (in either (or both) units and dollar volume) in our Cloverdale, Healdsburg, and Sebastopol markets. We are the fourth largest real estate firm in Wine Country based on the last twelve months of units sold.
Wine Country Market Trends
Sonoma County: The County has the lowest inventory of available homes (823) for any month since December 2004 (815), eight years ago when the market was red hot. It is the second lowest level for any month since the beginning of this millennium. The inventory is less than half of the amount it was in October 2011 (1678). New sales (575) were equal to the amount last month and 11% higher than last year (516). There is a just a 1.4 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace – a stressed market. New listings for the month (389) were 32% lower than the pace in October 2011 (576). The median price of homes closed in October in Sonoma County ($356,000) was 19% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($298,000).
Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up 14% of the inventory and 38% of the new sales. One year ago, the distressed property inventory represented 30% of the overall inventory and distressed sales represented 55% of all new sales. There is less than a half months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace. The median price of 154 distressed properties that sold in the month of October ($280,000) was 18% higher than October a year ago.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (40) at the end of October 2012 was 34% below that of a year ago (61) and was slightly below the inventory last month (47). Sales for the month of October (14) were slightly behind the sales a year ago (16) and 39% behind the sales reported last month (23). There is a 2.9 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. This is higher than the County in general. The medium price of the 23 homes closed in October of this year ($268,000) was 5% higher than October a year ago ($255,000). This compares to a 19% increase in median value in the County on a year over year basis. 22% of the inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 57% of the new sales and 35% of the closings for the month are distressed properties. This is not much different from a year ago.
Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (78) in Healdsburg at the end of October was down 33% from that of last year (116) and it was down 10% from that of last month (87). New sales (20) were down 20% from the 25 new sales in October 2011 and were down 39% from the 33 sales last month. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace normalized at 3.9 months. Only 4% of the inventory in Healdsburg consists of “distressed properties” (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), but 25% of the new sales were distressed properties and 12% of the closings were distressed properties. There is a one half months supply of inventory based on the inventory and sales pace of distressed properties.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (77) in Petaluma at the end of October was a whopping 62% lower than a year ago (203) and it was 5% lower than the supply last month (81). New sales in October (68) were 13% ahead of the pace in October 2011 (60) and they were 16% lower than the pace of last month (81). There is only a 1.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 19% of the available inventory, 34% of new sales and 25% of closings for the month. This compares to 33% of inventory, 53% of new sales and 48% of closings in October 2011.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (222) in Santa Rosa at the end of October was 61% lower than a year ago (572). It was down 9% from the Inventory last month (245). This is the lowest level of inventory in Santa Rosa since the beginning of the millennium. The level of new listings for the month (151) was also the lowest since before January 2000. There were 151 new listings and 238 new sales for the month – you can see where that trend will lead. New sales in October (238) were 9% higher than the pace in October 2011 (218) and they were slightly ahead of the pace of last month (227). There is only a 0.9 months supply of available homes paced on the current sales pace. The median price of homes closed in October in Santa Rosa was $325,000 compared to $265,000 a year ago – a 23% increase. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 19% of the available inventory (continues decreasing trend), 39% of new sales and 31% of closings for the month. This compares to 40% of inventory, 56% of new sales and 54% of closings a year ago. There is only one half months supply of distressed properties available. The median price of the distressed properties sold ($280,000) has gone up 24% in the past twelve months.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (69) in Sebastopol at the end of October was 29% lower than that of October 2011 (97) and it was 11% lower than that of last month (78). There were 38 new sales for the month of October compared to 20 in October 2011 and 39 last month. Sales have remained stable over the past three months. There is a 1.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. There are only 2 distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) available in Sebastopol. This market is essentially out of distressed properties at the current time. Distressed properties did make up 39% of the new sales for the month and 31% of the closings.
Sonoma Valley: There were 123 available homes in inventory at the end of October in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood). This is the lowest level of inventory for any month since March 2005. It is 39% lower than the inventory a year ago (200) and 7% below the inventory last month (132). There were 54 new sales for the month. This is about equal to the sales in October 2011 (52) and 25% ahead of the pace last month (43). There is a 2.3 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) represent 10% of the inventory (12 units), 30% of the new sales for the month and 25% of the closings for the month. This compares to 17%, 54% and 44% a year ago. Distressed sales are having about half of the impact that they had a year ago.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (23) in Windsor at the end of October was a whopping 74% lower than a year ago (89) and it was 26% lower than the supply last month (31). This is the lowest level of inventory in Windsor since the beginning of the millennium. New sales in October (43) were equal to the pace in October 2011 and they were 16% higher than the pace of last month (37). There is only a half months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 30% of the available inventory, 30% of new sales and 34% of closings for the month. This compares to 52% of inventory, 66% of new sales and 64% of closings in October 2011.
Napa County: The County has the lowest inventory of available homes (394) for any month since February 2005, nearly nine years ago when the market was red hot. The inventory is l36% lower than it was in October 2011 (617). New sales (159) were 31% higher than last year (121) and were slightly below the pace of last month (167). There is a 2.5 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace. New listings for the month (105) were 33% lower than the pace in October 2011 (157). The median price of homes closed in October in Napa County ($408,000) was 29% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($317,000).
Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up only 9% of the inventory but 38% of the new sales and 29% of the closings. One year ago, the distressed property inventory represented 20% of the overall inventory and distressed sales represented 49% of all new sales. There is about a half months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace. The median price of 45 distressed properties that sold in the month of October ($330,000) was 27% higher than October a year ago ($259,000).
Napa: There were 209 available homes in inventory at the end of October in the City of Napa. This is the lowest level of inventory for any month since February 2005 when the inventory was 198 units. It is 42% lower than the inventory a year ago (361) and 17% below the inventory last month (254). There were 113 new sales for the month. This is 35% higher than the sales in October 2011 (84) and about equal to the pace last month (115). There is just a 1.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace, a sign of a “seller’s market”. Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) represent 8% of the inventory (16 units), 33% of the new sales for the month and 29% of the closings for the month. This compares to 20%, 42% and 43% a year ago. Distressed sales are having about half of the impact that they had a year ago.
Up Valley: There were 159 available homes in inventory at the end of October in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville). This is 15% lower than the inventory a year ago (187) and equal to the inventory last month (161). There were 18 new sales for the month. This is 80% higher than the sales in October 2011 (10) and a bit lower than the pace last month (26). There is a 8.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) represent just 6% of the inventory (9 units), and 39% of the new sales for the month. This is not much different that it was a year ago.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from October 1 to October 31, 2012:
In our Cloverdale office, Ron and Jane Pavelka had a Wine Country Group leading eight closings.
In our Healdsburg office: Diane Harris enjoyed four closings; Jose Hernandez, Ellisa Morrash and Patty Van Deren each had three closings; Ann Amtower, Carol Lexa, Penelope La Montagne and Debbie Adler each had two closings and Mike Downes, Gina Cleaver, Hank Lane, Perry Hardin and Betty Hagedon each had a closing.
In our Napa office: Tressa Anderson and Shawn Daee both enjoyed three closings and Adam Ghisletta had a closing.
In our Petaluma office: John O’Keefe enjoyed three closings.
In our Santa Rosa offices: Carlos Rivas of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate enjoyed eight closings including four sales and four leases; Tommy Apostolides, Gus Kyriakos, Beth Sirks, Don Hamilton and Christen Hamilton had two closing each; and Larry Tristano and Charles Himes, Bonnie Falconer, Mark Payne and Coralee Barkela each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: The team of Doug Schaeffer and Cary Fargo enjoyed four closings; Jeffrey Seligson, Liz Uribe and Will Kent enjoyed two closings each; and Chris Nelson, Norbert Tenenbaum, Laurie Parris, Michael and Pauline Pellini, Kaye Henzerling, Pat Paulsen, Richard Petersen, Barbara Paul and Lisa Dawson each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan enjoyed four closings; David Kerr, Erick Rothfeld and Mike Caselli each had three closings; Tish Thames, Herb Heil, and Mari Johnson each had two closings; and Erin George, Leo Merle, Joyce Davison, Rob Jones, Joan Harrington, Diane Litchfield and Shanis Nelson each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: Linda Alioto had two closings and Rianne Pasquariello and Liz Manfree each had a closing for this period.
Congratulations to all!