Core Values

Those who know me know that I believe in a values-based organization.  Last year, I reviewed the core values of our parent company, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Mason-McDuffie.  In the next couple of months, I’d like to review the “Core Values” of our franchise group – Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.  They are:

Passion

Authenticity

Innovation

Growth

Excellence

As a team, we have a “Passion” and enthusiasm for what we do. We act courageously, we create excitement and energy, we respect and protect the environment.

Next post:  Authenticity.

Wine Country Real Estate Trends in February 2014

Wine Country Group Results for February 2014

After a soaring January, the Wine Country Group settled back to the ground in February.  We closed a total of $19.3 million in sales compared to $26.7 million a year ago.   We had 38 closed transactions compared to 49 in February 2013 and 53 last month.  The Santa Rosa office led with 10 closings for the month while the Sebastopol and Sonoma offices both had six closings.  The Sonoma office led in dollar volume with $5.2 million in sales while the Santa Rosa and Sebastopol offices each had $3.8 million.  Our average closing price for the month was $508,000 compared to $545,000 last February.

The Wine Country Group opened 71 new escrows for the month compared to 71 a year ago and 44 last month.  The group had 24 new listings compared to 42 in February 2013 and 32 last month.  We currently have 68 pending sales with a value of $54 million dollars.  We have 111 active listings with a value of $122 million dollars. Our average listing price is $1,097,000 – up 20% from an average of $914,000 a year ago.

Wine Country Real Estate results for February 2014:

Sonoma County: Sonoma County inventory flattened again in February 2014 adding 325 new listings for the month compared to 517 new listings in February of last year and 444 last month.  Perhaps the 17.6% jump in new listings in Marin County in February will carry over to Wine Country next month.  The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of February stood at 594 compared to 632 a year ago.  New sales (439) in February were 15% lower than last year (517) but were 8% higher than that of last month (406). There is a 1.4 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace – still a tight “Seller’s” market.  The median price of homes closed in February in Sonoma County ($420,000) was 16% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($362,000) but it has been generally stable since June of last year ranging from $420,000 to $450,000.

Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up 7.5% of the inventory and 12% of the new sales and closings for the month.  One year ago, the distressed property inventory represented 15% of the overall inventory and distressed sales represented 24% of all new sales and 34.5% of the closings.  There is 0.8 months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace.  The median price of 35 distressed properties that sold in the month of February ($320,000) was equal to the median price in February a year ago ($317,000).

Sonoma County Luxury Homes: Sales of luxury homes (sales price in excess of $900,000) in the Sonoma County have enjoyed a strong growth in activity in the last twelve months.  They nearly doubled their pace in February.  There were 50 new luxury sales in the County last month compared to 26 in February 2013 and 27 last month.  There has been a 34% increase in the number of luxury homes closed (450) from 3/1/13 to 2/28/14 compared to 335 from 3/1/12 to 2/28/13.  There is a 3 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace compared to 7.3 months supply last year.  The inventory of luxury homes in Sonoma County at the end of February was 152 units which is the lowest in the past 14 years.  Days on market for closed luxury sales dropped from 170 days last year to 115 days this year.

Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (34) at the end of February 2014 was 13% ahead of that of a year ago (30) and was 31% ahead of the inventory last month (26).  Sales for the month of February (9) were 53% below the sales a year ago (19) and 36% below the sales recorded last month (14).  There is a 3.8 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales.  Days on market for the 5 closings that occurred in February fell to 40 days from 103 last month.

Coastal Sonoma: Things continued to be busy in the Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) market.  There were 7 new home sales for the month of February compared to 8 a year ago and 7 last month.  The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (17) at the end of February was 37% lower than that of a year ago (27) and was equal to that of last month (17).  There is just a 2.4 months supply of available inventory in the Coastal Sonoma market based on the current pace of new sales.  The days on market (146) remains relatively high when compared to the rest of the County (72).

Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (44) in Healdsburg at the end of February was down 18% from that of last year (54) and it was 7% higher than that of last month (41).  Inventory remains very low in Healdsburg.  New sales (18) were 25% below the 24 new sales in February 2013 and were slightly below the 21 sales last month.  The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 2.4 months.  We’ll watch to see if the “Spring market” jumps into place in Healdsburg in the next couple of months as it did last year.

Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (44) in Petaluma at the end of February was 20% lower than a year ago (55) and it was equal to the supply last month (44).  This remains a very low level of inventory in Petaluma and it’s hard to picture Petaluma with just the same amount of inventory as Healdsburg.  New sales in February (48) were 39% below the pace in February 2013 (79) and equal to the pace of last month (46).  There is just a 0.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the 39 homes that closed in February was $500,000.  This is 7.5% ahead of the median last February ($465,000) and prices have been flat since June of last year.

Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale at the end of February (194) was 22% higher than a year ago (159) and was roughly equal to last month (199).  New sales in February (180) were 9.5% below the pace in February 2013 (199) and they were slightly below the pace of last month (186).  There is only a 1.1 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace.  The median price of homes closed in February in Santa Rosa was $385,000 compared to $337,000 a year ago – a 14% increase, but like the County, prices have been generally stable since June of this year.  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 10% of the available inventory, 13% of new sales and 12.5% of closings for the month. This compares to 15% of inventory, 24% of new sales and 36% of closings a year ago.  There is a 0.8 months supply of distressed properties available.

Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (34) in Sebastopol at the end of February was 28% lower than that of February 2013 (50) and it was 8% lower than that of last month (39).  There were 34 new sales for the month of February compared to 37 in February 2013 and 11 for last month. This is obviously a big jump (209%) in month over month sales and drove the months supply of inventory down to 1.1 based on the current sales pace.  We’ll see if some new listings come on the market in March to help balance the market.

Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale at the end of February in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) rose for the third straight month as it did at this time last year.  Inventory rose slightly to 65 units from 61 last month.  Inventory is still 31% lower than the inventory a year ago (94).  There were 40 new sales for the month.  This is 17% below the sales in February 2013 (48) and 25% ahead of the pace last month (32).  There is just a 1.6 months supply of inventory in Sonoma based on the current pace of sales.

Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (27) in Windsor at the end of February was 23% ahead of the inventory in February 2013 (22) and it was 8% below the supply last month (25).  New sales jumped up in February (33) and were 22% ahead of the pace in February 2013 (27) and they were 74% ahead of the pace of last month (19).  There is just a 0.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  Nine of the 33 sales (27%) in February were distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales).  The median price of the 21 sales that closed in February was $502,000.   This is 36% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($368,000) and the highest median price in Windsor for any month since August of 2007 – nearly seven years ago.

Napa County: In Napa County, inventory reversed a four-month decline and rose slightly in February.  The inventory is 2% higher than it was in February 2013 (275) and 4% higher than last month (271).  New sales (97) were 20.5% lower than last year (122) and were 22% lower than last month (126).  There is a 2.9 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace.  New listings for the month (105) were 17% lower than the pace in February 2013 (122).  The median price of homes closed in February in Napa County ($460,000) was 8% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($425,000) and has been generally stable since May of 2013.

Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up only 5% of the inventory, 9% of the new sales and 14% of the closings.  One year ago, the distressed property inventory represented 13% of the overall inventory, 25% of new sales and 35% of closings.

Napa County Luxury Homes: Sales of luxury homes (sales price in excess of $900,000) in Napa County have enjoyed a strong growth in activity in the last twelve months.  There has been a 21% increase in the number of luxury homes closed (215) from 3/1/13 to 2/28/14 compared to 178 from 3/1/12 to 2/28/13.  There were 20 new luxury home sales in January 2014 compared to 16 in February 2013.  There is a 5.6 months supply of available luxury homes based on the current sales pace compared to 7.9 months supply last year.  The inventory of luxury homes in Napa County at the end of February was 125 units compared to 114 a year ago.

Napa: There were 158 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of February in the City of Napa.  This is 7% higher than the inventory a year ago (147) and the same as the inventory last month.  There were 63 new sales for the month.  This is 8% lower than the sales in February 2013 (69) and 14% below the pace last month (73).  There is a 2.5 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the 48 homes that closed in Napa in February was $471,000 which is 9.5% ahead of the median price in February 2013 ($430,000).

Up Valley: There were 96 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of February in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville).  This is the first month over month increase in inventory since August of last year.  There were an equal number of properties in inventory a year ago (95) and there were 85 last month.  There were 19 new sales for the month.  This is a 35% fall off from the 29 sales in February 2013 and 32% below the pace last month (28).  There is a 5.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – a jump up from the 3.1 months last month. It will be interesting to see if sales pick up again in March.

Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from February 1 to February 28, 2014:

In our Bodega Bay office:  Deborah Melancon enjoyed a closing.

In our Cloverdale office:  Ron and Jane Pavelka had three closings.

In our Healdsburg office:  Joshua Brock-Walder and Dee Grohmann each had a closing.

In our Napa office:  Nick Simone, Kathleen Brophy, Stacey Oftedal and Michael Senn each had a closing.

In our Petaluma office:  David Poulsen double-ended a closing.

In our Santa Rosa office:  The Hamilton Group had a Wine Country Group leading six closings and Charles Himes, Jill Rake, Jim Famini and Tommy Apostolides each had a closing.

In our Sebastopol office:  Lori Allen, Eric Lucas, Jeffrey Seligson and Liz Uribe each had a closing.

In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan, Joyce Davison, Diane Litchfield, Leo Merle, Herb Heil and Erin George each had a closing.

And, in our St. Helena office: Liz Manfree enjoyed four closings and Linda Alioto had a closing for this period.

Congratulations to all!