Wine Country Real Estate Trends in October 2013
Wine Country Group Events/Trainings: Our Fall Legal Update is coming up in two weeks – Tuesday, October 22 from 9:00 to 11:30 – at the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa. Bill Jansen has a lot of new material for us, so it will be important and informative.
The Sonoma office is having a Feng Shui presentation entitled “Autumn’s effect upon our Chi and Living Space”. Noted instructor and author Caroline Patrick BoNei will be making this presentation on Wednesday, October 30, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at the Sonoma office. If you would like to attend, please let me know.
And, after two successful networking events at luxury homes in Glen Ellen and Healdsburg, the Distinctive Collection Networking Group will head off to Tahoe next month to visit a new $3.9 million dollar company listing near the lake. The date is November 14 and we’re looking into a bus to transport us up there and back. Details will follow, but save the date!
Wine Country Group Results for September 2013
The Wine Country Group had a relatively slow month in September. We had 56 closings this September compared to 87 in September 2012 and 101 in August. However, our average selling price rose to $687,364 this month and our dollar volume was $38.5 million compared to $38.1 million last year and $46.4 million last month. Our Sonoma office led in September closings with 13 while the Santa Rosa office had 10, the Sebastopol and Healdsburg offices each had 9 and the Napa office had 7. The Sonoma office also led in dollar volume with $12.7 million in sales. The Santa Rosa office had $8.2 and the Healdsburg office had $7.0 million. As mentioned, our Wine Country average closing sales price was $687,364 comparing to $438,071 a year ago and $459,567 last month. Our escrow openings were 69 units compared to 103 in September 2012 and 93 last month. We had 28 new listings for the month compared to 33 a year ago and 28 a month ago. We have a pretty slow start to the Fall market throughout Wine Country – kind of like the slow harvest.
The Wine Country Group currently has 90 pending sales with a value of $61 million dollars. We have 103 active listings with a value of $96 million dollars. Our average listing price is $936,000 – compared to an average of $846,000 a year ago.
Wine Country Market – September 2013
Sonoma County: Sales dropped in September for the second straight month and the inventory of unsold homes rose for the eighth month in a row in Sonoma County. There were 947 homes and condominiums for sale at the end of September compared to 930 at the end of August. Inventory is actually 1.8% higher than the inventory of September 2012 (936). New sales in September (517) were 7.5% below the pace of last month (583) and 11% below the pace of September last year (559). New listing activity fell to 500 units for the month compared to 570 last month and over 600 per month for each of the prior five months. There is a 1.8 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace – still a tight market. Properties continue to sell at a quick pace with the closings last month being on the market an average of 66 days compared to 89 days on market a year ago. The median price of homes closed in September in Sonoma County ($425,000) was 26% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($337,000). The low median price over recent years was $292,000 in February 2011. The market has rebounded 46% since that low.
Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up just 6% of the inventory and 13% of the new sales – this continues to trend down month over month. One year ago, the distressed property inventory represented 15% of the overall inventory and distressed sales represented 31% of all new sales. There is 0.8 months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace.
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 47% increase in the number of luxury homes sold – 401 from 10/12 to 9/13 compared to 273 from 10/11 to 9/12. There were 44 new luxury home sales in September 2013 compared to 31 in September 2012.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (38) at the end of September 2013 was 12% below that of a year ago (47) and also below that of last month (43). Sales for the month of September (13) were 43.5% lower than the sales a year ago (23) and 28% lower than the sales reported last month (18). There is a 2.9 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. There are just 3 distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) in Cloverdale at the present time compared to 13 at this time last year.
Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) (39) at the end of September 2013 was 9% lower than that of a year ago (43) and was slightly higher than last month (36). Sales for the month of September (4) were equal to the sales a year ago (4) and were slightly lower than last month (6). There were 8 closings in the month of September along the coast – over twice as many as last September (3) and one more than last month (7). Sellers and Realtors on the cost must feel good to see this activity. There is a four months supply of available inventory in the Coastal Sonoma market based on the current pace of new sales. Days on market on the Coast remain higher (95 days) than the County in general (66 days).
Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (63) in Healdsburg at the end of September has remained steady over the past five months. It is 28% lower than last September (87). New sales (19) were down 41% from the 32 new sales in September 2012 and were down 24% from the 25 sales last month. The number of new sales per month has been generally in the same range (19-29) since January of this year. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 3.3 months.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (80) in Petaluma at the end of September was the same as a year ago (81) and it was also the same as last month (80). New sales in Petaluma in September (63) continued to fall sharply (-38%) from the pace of July (101). New sales were 19% behind the pace of last September 2012 (78). The market remains tight as there is just a 1.3 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 58 closed homes in Petaluma in September ($480,000) was up 30% from the median closing price in September 2012 ($368,000). Sales in Petaluma in September were closing in a shorter time (54 days) than in any other market in Wine Country.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (313) spiked in Santa Rosa at the end of September and was 28% higher than the inventory a year ago (245) and it was 13% higher than the inventory at the end of last month (277). This is the first time that available inventory has exceeded 300 units since April 2012. Inventory has risen every month since December of last year. New sales in September (214) were equal to the pace in September 2012 (220) and were steady with the pace last month (218). There is only a 1.5 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace. The current time it takes a home to sell and close in Santa Rosa is only 57 days – the fastest since December 2005. The median price of the 170 homes closed in September in Santa Rosa was $390,000 compared to $319,000 a year ago – a 22% increase. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up just 7% of the available inventory, 15% of new sales for the month.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (63) in Sebastopol at the end of September was 19% lower than that of September 2012 (78) and it was slightly ahead of that of last month (59). There were 30 new sales for the month of September. This is 17% below the new sales in September 2012 (36) and 25% below the 40 sales last month. There is a 2.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. There are only three distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) available in Sebastopol. This market is essentially out of distressed properties at the current time.
Sonoma Valley: There were 125 available homes in inventory at the end of September in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood). The inventory is slightly below the inventory a year ago (132) and also below the inventory last month (136). The new sales (58) in the Sonoma Valley rebounded for the month to be 41% ahead of the pace in September 2012 (41) and 38% ahead of the pace of last month (42). It is more in line with the sales pace since the Spring of this year. There is now a 2.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to 3.2 months last month. The days on market slowed to 93 days in September compared to 50 days in May of this year. There are only four distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) available in Sonoma at the present time.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (44) in Windsor at the end of September is 42% higher than a year ago (31) and 10% higher than last month (40). New sales in September (29) were 19% below the pace in September 2012 (36) and were 40% below the pace last month (48). There is a 1.5 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. There is just one distressed property (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) in inventory in Windsor at the end of September. The market has absorbed all of the distressed properties.
Napa County: The available number of homes and condominiums for sale (442) in Napa County at the end of September continued to rise for the seventh month in a row. The inventory is just 1% lower than it was in September 2012 (446) and 1% higher than last month (437). New sales (129) fell 24% from last month (169) and were 22% behind last year (165). There is a 3.4 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace. The median price of homes closed in September in Napa County ($453,000) was 26% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($360,000). Days On Market was 77 compared to 122 a year ago.
Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up only 4% of the inventory. Currently there are 16 distressed properties in inventory compared to 46 a year ago. Distressed properties make up 13% of the new sales and 12% of the closings in September. There is 0.9 months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace. The median price of 15 distressed properties that sold in the month of September ($320,000) was 11% higher than September a year ago ($287,000).
Napa County Luxury Homes: Sales of luxury homes (sales price in excess of $900,000) in Napa County enjoyed a strong growth in activity in the last twelve months. There has been a 31% increase in the number of luxury homes sold – 196 from 10/12 to 9/13 compared to 150 from 10/11 to 9/12. There are currently 198 luxury homes on the market in Napa County compared to 192 at this time last year.
Napa: There were 235 available homes in inventory at the end of September in the City of Napa. Like the County, this is a continuation of increased inventory for the seventh straight month. The inventory is 7.5% lower than the inventory a year ago (254) and 3% ahead of the inventory last month (229). There were 83 new sales for the month. This dropped off 29% from last month (117) and was 27% behind the sales pace in September 2012 (114). There is a 2.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 93 homes sold in the City of Napa in September ($450,000) was 26% higher than the median price in September 2012 ($358,000). Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) represent just 3% of the inventory, 4% of the new sales for the month. There are only 8 distressed properties currently on the market.
Up Valley Napa County: There were 167 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of September in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville). This is 4% higher than the inventory a year ago (161) and 2% below the inventory of last month (170). There were 18 new sales for the month. This is 28% below the pace of last September (25) and 36% below the pace of new sales last month (28). There is a 9.3 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. This is the highest level of inventory to sales in all of the Wine Country. Days on market for the sold properties in Up Valley last month was 119 days compared to 135 days in September 2012 and compared to 77 days for the County of Napa as a whole.
Closings: For the month of September, the following agents enjoyed success in closing transactions:
In our Cloverdale office, Ron and Jane Pavelka had a Wine Country Group high five closings.
In our Healdsburg office: Debbie Adler enjoyed three closings; Diane Harris enjoyed two closings; and Dee Grohmann, Debby Hendershot, Tom Lawrence, Kent Mitchell and Patty Van Deren each had a closing.
In our Napa office: Nick Simon enjoyed three closings and Tressa Anderson, Billy Birdsong, Lynda Jensen and Stacey Oftedal each had a closing.
In our Santa Rosa office: Charles Himes enjoyed three closings; Tommy Apostolides and the team of Christen Hamilton and Don Hamilton each enjoyed two closings; and Lindsey Ehrlicher, Ryan Styles, and Don Jaramillo each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Jeff Seligson enjoyed two closings and Susan Greer and Liz Uribe each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan enjoyed three closings; Patty Marken and Michael Crain of Michael Crain Properties had two closings each; and Tish Thames, Mara Kahn, Herb Heil, Diane Krause, Dan Gallagher and Joyce Davison each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: Linda Alioto enjoyed two closings and Liz Manfree had a closing for this period.
Congratulations to all!