Wine Country Real Estate Trends in January 2014
Wine Country Group Results for January 2014
Thanks to three sale sides in excess of $6,000,000 each, the Wine Country Group had the strongest January in dollar volume closings since we started keeping records in 1999. We closed a total of $44.9 million in sales compared to $24.1 million a year ago. We had 53 closed transactions compared to 58 in January 2013. The Sonoma office led with 11 closings for the month while the Sebastopol office had 9 and the Healdsburg and Napa offices had 7 each. The Petaluma office led in dollar volume with $13.7 million in sales while the Napa office had $9.7 million and the Sonoma office had $7.4 million. Taking out the 3 large sales for the month, our average sales price on closed transactions was $520,000 compared to $416,000 a year ago – an increase of 25%.
The Wine Country Group opened 44 new escrows for the month compared to 63 a year ago and had 32 new listings compared to 36 in January 2013. We currently have 60 pending sales with a value of $42 million dollars. We have 105 active listings with a value of $116 million dollars. Our average listing price is $1,108,000 – up 18% from an average of $939,000 a year ago.
Wine Country Real Estate results for January 2014:
Sonoma County: Sonoma County inventory rebounded in January 2014 adding 384 new listings for the month. The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale at the end of January stood at 600 compared to 592 a year ago. The inventory was 4% higher than last month (575). New sales (383) were 14% lower than last year (445) but were 19% higher than that of last month (323). There is a 1.6 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace – still a tight “Seller’s” market. The median price of homes closed in January in Sonoma County ($425,000) was 20% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($350,000) 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% of the inventory and 15% of the new sales. One year ago, the distressed property inventory represented 15% of the overall inventory and distressed sales represented 30% of all new sales. There is 0.8 months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace. The median price of 32 distressed properties that sold in the month of January ($367,000) was 29% higher than January a year ago ($285,000).
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. There has been a 40% increase in the number of luxury homes closed (430) from 2/1/13 to 1/31/14 compared to 306 from 2/1/13 to 1/31/13. There were 28 new luxury home sales in January 2014 compared to 23 in January 2013. There is a 5.4 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace compared to 8.1 months supply last year. The inventory of luxury homes in Sonoma County at the end of January was 150 units which is the lowest in the past 14 years. Days on market for closed luxury sales dropped from 164 days last year to 126 days this year.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (26) at the end of January 2014 was 30% ahead of that of a year ago (20) and was 53% ahead of the inventory last month (17). Sales for the month of January (11) were 21% below the sales a year ago (14) and 22% ahead of the sales recorded last month (9). There is a 2.4 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. The median price of the 10 closed homes in Cloverdale in January ($363,000) was 32% ahead of last year, but again, consistent with the past nine months.
Coastal Sonoma: Things continued to be busy in the Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) market. Sales for the month of January were 8 homes compared to 7 a year ago and 8 last month. The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (17) at the end of January was 29% lower than that of a year ago (24) and was 26% lower than last month (23). There is just a 2.1 months supply of available inventory in the Coastal Sonoma market based on the current pace of new sales 3.4 months supply in January 2013. The days on market (101) remains relatively high when compared to the rest of the county (79).
Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (41) in Healdsburg at the end of January was down 21% from that of last year (52) and it was down 7% from that of last month (44). This is the lowest inventory in Healdsburg in the past 13 years. New sales (21) were equal to the 22 new sales in January 2013 and were nicely ahead of the 15 sales last month. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 2 months. The 17 homes that closed in January were on the market a bit longer (101 days) than the county average of 79 days.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (44) in Petaluma at the end of January was 24% lower than a year ago (58) and it was equal to the supply last month (43). This remains a very low level of inventory in Petaluma. New sales in January (43) were 57% below the pace in January 2013 (99), but the 99 sales in January last year was a real anomaly. New sales in January were 23% higher than the pace of last month (35). There is just a one months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. “Days on market” for the 33 closed homes in Petaluma in January was just 59 days.
Santa Rosa: The market picked up In Santa Rosa in January, but remains tight. The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale at the end of January (199) was 25% higher than a year ago (159) and was 7% higher than last month. New sales in January (169) were 8% ahead of the pace in January 2013 (158) and they were 23% ahead of the pace of last month (37). There is only a 1.2 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace. The median price of homes closed in January in Santa Rosa was $399,000 compared to $327,000 a year ago – a 22% increase, but like the County, it has been generally stable since June of this year. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 11% of the available inventory (continues decreasing trend), 17% of new sales and 9% of closings for the month. This compares to 13% of inventory, 28% of new sales and 39% of closings a year ago. There is a 0.7 months supply of distressed properties available.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (39) in Sebastopol at the end of January was 19% lower than that of January 2013 (48) but it was 11% higher than that of last month (35). There were 15 new sales for the month of January compared to 21 in January 2013 and 11 for last month. There is a 2.6 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The “Days on Market” for the 15 homes that closed in January was 103 which is above the average in the county of 79 days.
Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale at the end of January in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) rose to 61 units from 55 the month before. This is 25% lower than the inventory a year ago (81). There were 31 new sales for the month. This is 18% below the sales in January 2013 (38) and 11% behind the pace last month (35). There is just a two month supply of inventory in Sonoma based on the current pace of sales.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (25) in Windsor at the end of January was equal to the inventory in January 2013. It was 17% below the supply last month (30). New sales in January (21) were 28% lower than the pace in January 2013 (29) and they were 22% below the pace of last month (27). There is a 1.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. We’ll watch to see if inventory, sales and closings reverse trend and move upward in February.
Napa County: Napa County has the lowest inventory of available homes and condominiums (271) for any month going back as far as my database does – January 2000. The inventory is 5% lower than it was in January 2013 (285) and 1.5% lower than last month (275). New sales (117) were 15% lower than last year (137) and were 25% higher than last month (94). There is a 2.3 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace. That’s a drop from 3.3 months supply last month. New listings for the month (106) were 16% lower than the pace in January 2013 (126). The median price of homes closed in January in Napa County ($476,000) was 22% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($389,000) but has been generally stable since May of 2013.
Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up only 4% of the inventory but 19% of the new sales and 16% of the closings. One year ago, the distressed property inventory represented 11% of the overall inventory and distressed sales represented 32% of all new sales. The twelve distressed units available in all of Napa County at the end of January is the lowest since 2006.
Napa County Luxury Homes: Sales of luxury homes (sales price in excess of $900,000) in the Napa County have enjoyed a strong growth in activity in the last twelve months. There has been a 20% increase in the number of luxury homes closed (214) from 2/1/13 to 1/31/14 compared to 178 from 2/1/13 to 1/31/13. There were 23 new luxury home sales in January 2014 compared to 9 in January 2013. There is a 4.7 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace compared to 13.2 months supply last year. The inventory of luxury homes in Napa County at the end of January was 108 units which is the lowest in the past 13 years.
Napa: There were 158 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of January in the City of Napa. This is 7% higher than the inventory a year ago (148) and 3% higher than the inventory last month (153). There were 71 new sales for the month. This is 22% lower than the sales in January 2013 (91) but 36.5% ahead of the pace last month (52). There is a 2.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The 47 homes that sold in January this year were on the market an average of 110 days compared to an average of 80 days for the county as a whole. So, some older inventory in the City of Napa seems to be moving.
Up Valley: There were 85 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of January in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville). This is 17.5% lower than the inventory a year ago (103) and slightly lower than the inventory last month (88). The 85 homes in inventory at the end of January is the lowest number of home in inventory in the Up Valley market for any month since March 2000. Only four times since 2000 has the inventory fallen below 100 units including this month and last. There were 27 new sales for the month. This is 23% higher than the sales in January 2013 (22) and 35% above the pace last month (20). There is a 3.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – the lowest months of inventory in memory. Those who have been patient to see the Up Valley Market rebounding are being rewarded.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from January 1 to January 31, 2014:
In our Cloverdale office: Ron and Jane Pavelka had three closings.
In our Healdsburg office: Diane Harris enjoyed four closings and Debbie Adler had a closing.
In our Napa office: Nick Simone, Tressa Anderson, Adam Ghisletta, Chuck Laughlin, Cynthia Parker and Damon Savoia each had a closing.
In our Petaluma office: Scott Murphy and John Stevens enjoyed two closings each, and David Poulsen, Joan Claeyssens and Paul Claeyssens each had a closing.
In our Santa Rosa offices: Don Jaramillo had two closings and the Hamilton Group, Charles Himes, Mark Payne and Tommy Apostolides each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Pam Buda had two closings and Kay Henzerling, Rikki Barron, Susie Brown, Rita DeSouza, Robert Owen and Liz Uribe each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan and Joyce Davison had two closings each and Shanis Nelson, Erick Rothfeld, Diane Krause, Patty Keiser, Diane Litchfield, Leo Merle, Tish Thames and Isaac Raboy of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: Liz Manfree enjoyed three closings and Jeff Veness had a closing for this period.
Congratulations to all!