Wine Country Real Estate Trends – February 2015
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate – Wine Country Group Results for February 2015:
The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate – Wine Country Group by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate had 40 closings in February 2015 compared to 38 a year ago and 44 last month. In February, we closed homes with a total value of $27 million compared to $19 million a year ago and $23 million last month. The average selling price of the properties sold by the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate – Wine Country Group in February was $679,307 compared to $507,905 a year ago and $520,385 last month. The Santa Rosa office led in February with 11 closings while the Sonoma office had 8 closings and the Napa office had 6. The Santa Rosa office also led in dollar volume with $10.1 million in closings while the St. Helena office had $4.4 million and the Sonoma office had $3.9 million.
The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate – Wine Country Group opened 50 new escrows for the month compared to 71 a year ago and 71 last month. The Group had only 4 canceled transactions last month compared to 14 a year ago and 12 last month. The Group had 28 new listings compared to 24 in February 2014 and 29 last month. We currently have 70 pending sales with a value of $50 million dollars. We have 61 active listings with a value of $60 million dollars. Our average listing price is $990,000.
Wine Country Real Estate Results and Trends for February 2015:
Sonoma County: The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of February finally turned upward after falling for five straight months. It stood at 560 homes compared to 496 last month and 594 a year ago. This is a 5.7%% decrease on a year over year basis and a 13.1% increase from last month. New sales (407) in February were 2% ahead of that of last February (400) and were 21.5% ahead of the pace of last month (336). There is just a 1.4 months supply of inventory in Sonoma County based on the current sales pace. The time it takes to sell a home in Sonoma County (Days on Market) is 81 days compared to 71 a year ago. This selling period has stabilized over the past year. The median price of homes closed in February in Sonoma County was $460,000. This is a 9% increase over the median price in February 2014 ($420,000). The median price for closed sales has been in a relatively narrow range since March of last year. The current median price is still 22% below the peak median price for the County ($589,000) recorded in June 2005.
Sonoma County Luxury Homes: About one quarter of the inventory in Sonoma County can be characterized as Luxury Homes (listing price in excess of $1,100,000). There has been an 8% increase in the number of Luxury Homes closed (340) from 3/1/14 to 2/28/15 compared to 314 from 3/1/13 to 2/28/14. There were 152 luxury properties in inventory at the end of February compared to 122 last month and 125 a year ago. Days on Market for the 22 Luxury Homes that closed in February was 142 days compared to 107 days a year ago. This compares to 81 days on market for all closed properties in the County in February.
Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums available for sale in Napa County in February turned up after declining for five straight months. The inventory (270) is 4% below the inventory in February 2014 (281) and 3% ahead of the inventory last month (263). New sales (127) were a stellar 51% ahead of the pace last year (84) and 27% ahead of the pace of last month (100). There is a 2.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to a 4 months supply at the end of December. The Days on Market for the 80 homes closed in February was 106 days compared to 99 days a year ago and 101 days last month. The median price of homes closed in February in Napa County ($504,000) was 8% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($465,000). The current median price is still 25% below the peak median price for the County ($675,000) recorded in June 2006.
Napa County Luxury Homes: If one takes the highest quartile (25%) of available inventory as the “Luxury Market”, the Luxury Market begins at $1,500,000 in Napa County at this time. The sales of Luxury Homes (sales price in excess of $1,500,000) in Napa County have increased 30% for the period 3/1/14 to 2/28/15 (108) compared to 3/1/13 to 2/28/14 (83). There were 70 luxury homes in inventory at the end of February 2015 compared to 80 at the end of February 2014. There is a 5.4 months supply of available Luxury Homes based on the current sales pace compared to 26.7 months supply last year in February.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (30) at the end of February 2015 was 12% below the inventory a year ago (34) and was 11% ahead of the level of the inventory last month (27). There were 13 new homes sold in February compared to 8 a year ago and 9 last month. There is a 2.3 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. The Days on Market for the 8 homes that closed in Cloverdale in February was 134 days compared to 40 a year ago. It’s the second month in a row where the Days on Market have exceeded 100 days.
Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) at the end of February (32) was 88% ahead of the inventory a year ago (17) and 23% ahead of the inventory last month (26). That’s a solid jump in Coastal listings. There were 4 new homes sold in February that compares to 6 a year ago and 3 last month. There is a 9.4 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market of the 3 homes that closed in January was 135 days compared to 146 days a year ago.
Healdsburg Trends: There were 41 homes and condominiums available in Healdsburg at the end of February. This is 7% below the inventory last February (44) and slightly above the inventory of last month (38). Healdsburg inventory remains near fifteen-year lows. There was a jump in new sales for the month. 18 homes sold in February compared to 8 last month and 17 in February 2014. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 2.3 months. The Days on Market for the 13 homes closed in February was 112 days compared to 68 days a year ago and 76 days last month.
Napa: There were 145 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of February in the City of Napa. This is 8% lower than the inventory a year ago (158) and it is 4% ahead of the supply last month (140). New sales (81) were 56% ahead of the pace of February 2014 (52) and they were 16% ahead of the pace of last month (70). There is a 1.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to a 3.3 months supply at the end of December. The Days on Market for the 55 homes closed in February in the City of Napa was 90 days compared to 79 days in February 2014. The median price of the homes that closed in Napa in February was $550,000. This is 16% ahead of the median price of the homes closed in February 2014 ($475,000). The median price in February remains 15% below the peak median price in the City of Napa ($650,000) recorded in August 2006.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (46) at the end of February in Petaluma was about equal to the inventory in February 2014 (44) and it was 7% ahead of the inventory last month (43). New sales in Petaluma in February (42) were about the same as the new sales in February 2014 (43) and slightly below the sales last month (44). There is just a one months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 48 homes that closed in February was $485,000. This is 3% below the median last February ($500,000). The Days on Market for the closed sales for the month was 61 compared to 70 days a year ago.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Santa Rosa at the end of February (197) was about equal to the inventory of a year ago (194) and was 12.6% ahead of the inventory last month (175). New sales in February (178) were 7% ahead of the pace in February 2014 (167) and they were 16% ahead of the pace of last month (153). There is only a 1.1 months supply of available homes in Santa Rosa based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 118 homes closed in February in Santa Rosa was $455,000 compared to $384,000 a year ago – an 18% increase. The Days on Market for the homes closed in February in Santa Rosa was 77 days compared to 67 days a year ago.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (30) in Sebastopol at the end of February took a nice jump of 43% over that of last month (21) but was 17% below the inventory last February (36). There were 10 new sales for the month of February. This is well below (67%) the pace in February 2014 (30) and slightly above the pace of last month (8). There is a 3 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market of the 7 closed homes in Sebastopol in February was 109 days compared to 81 days a year ago.
Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale (69) in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) at the end of February was 8% ahead of the level of last February (65) and it was about equal to the inventory of last month (69). There were 45 new sales for the month. This is 36% ahead of the pace of sales in February 2014 (33) and it is 67% ahead of the pace of last month (27). There is just a 1.6 months supply of inventory in Sonoma based on the current pace of sales. The Days on Market for the 26 closed sales in Sonoma in February was 75 days compared to 76 a year ago and 89 last month. Nearly one half of the inventory in the Sonoma Valley is priced at $1,000,000 or above while 16% of the new sales and 27% of the closings last month were priced at $1,000,000 or more.
Up Valley Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (87) in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville) at the end of February 2015 was 9% below the level of 96 in February 2014 and it was 4% ahead of the level last month (84). There were 25 new sales for the month. This is 39% ahead of the 18 sales a year ago and 67% ahead of the 15 sales last month. There is a 3.5 months supply of inventory compared to 5.3 months a year ago. This is the lowest “months of inventory” in the past 12 months. The Days on Market for the 8 closings last month was 222 days compared to 231 days in February a year ago and 106 days for the County as a whole.
Windsor: Unlike the other parts of the County, the inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (17) in Windsor at the end of February fell. It is 37% below the homes in inventory in February 2014 (27) and 29% below the 24 homes last month. New sales in Windsor in February (21) were 32% below the sales in February 2014 (31) and were 23.5% ahead of the 17 sales last month. There is less than a one months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 9 sales that closed in February in Windsor was $486,000. This is 3% below the median price of a year ago ($502,000). Days on Market for the closed homes last month was just 50 days compared to 74 a year ago, 90 last month and 81 days in the County as a whole.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from February 1, 2015 to February 28, 2015:
In our Healdsburg office: Debbie Adler had two closings and, Ken Scharer, Elissa Morrash and Dee Grohmann each had a closing.
In our Petaluma office: JoAnn Claeyssens and Barry Adamson each enjoyed a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Rikki Barron, William Cole, Michaela Kalemba and Parmeeta Ghoman each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Erin George and Tiffany Knef enjoyed two closings each and Diane Krause, Sheila Deignan Mara Kahn, Herb Heil, Oak Senvardarli, Patty Keiser and Isaac Raboy of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: Linda Alioto and Liz Manfree had two closings each and David Barker enjoyed a closing.
Congratulations to all