Wine Country Real Estate Trends for September 2013
Company Values –
Vision – Vision is the fourth of the company’s core principles. For me, vision is looking externally at the future. Vision incorporates curiosity and the willingness to adopt change. As independent contractors, real estate agents are all the CEOs of their own businesses – and therefore they are leaders. Leaders create other leaders and do this through vision.
A Layman’s Look at Interest Rates – I’m a real estate guy – not a financial expert. But it caught my eye this morning that Verizon placed $49 Billion dollars in corporate bonds yesterday. Two things jump out at me about this. First, that’s a lot of money that could have gone into other financial investments – such as mortgages – and it is no longer available to those other markets. Second, is that their 30 year bonds were issued at a rate of 6.5%. So, someone could make a 30 yr. loan to me, secured by my house, at 4-4.5% or to Verizon at 6.5%. What would you choose if it were your money?
Wine Country Group Events/Trainings: Kathy Ollerton-Krafchow’s iProduce year long training begins this Friday, September 13 in San Francisco. The company’s GO (Get Opens) Training runs all next week in Pleasanton. The Seeds of Greatness program begins on September 25 in Santa Rosa with a presentation on the book “The Slight Edge”. This book has some really great insights and I can encourage you to learn a bit about it.
Wine Country Group Results for August 2013
The Wine Country Group had 101 closings this August compared to 110 in August 2012 and 88 last month. Our dollar volume was $46.4 million compared to $51.7 million last year and $58.2 million last month. Our Sonoma office led in August closings with 29 while the Sebastopol had 26 and the Santa Rosa office had 21. The Sonoma office also led in dollar volume with $14.7 million in sales. The Sebastopol office had $12.2 million and the Santa Rosa office had $9.5 million. Our Wine Country average closing sales price was $459,567 comparing to $470,371 a year ago and $660,942 last month – so we were off a bit both month over month and year over year. Our escrow openings were 93 units compared to 115 in August 2012 and 99 last month. We had just 28 new listings for the month compared to 57 a year ago and 41 a month ago. The slowdown in listings is reflected in the overall Wine Country market and may be attributed to the end of summer doldrums in the industry as folks take off prior to school beginning. We’ll see if September brings a rebound.
The Wine Country Group currently has 98 pending sales with a value of $75 million dollars. We have 112 active listings with a value of $105 million dollars. Our average listing price is $936,000 – compared to an average of $772,000 a year ago.
Wine Country Market – August 2013
Sonoma County: Sales dropped in August after rebounding in July and the inventory of unsold homes rose for the seventh month in a row in the County of Sonoma. Inventory was 930 units at the end of August compared to 866 units at the end of July. Inventory is just 4% below the inventory of August 2012 (973). New sales in August (536) were 24% below the pace of last month (708) and 18% below the pace of August last year (652). New listing activity slackened in the month of August with 510 new listings compared to over 600 per month for each of the last five months. There is a 1.7 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace. Properties continue to sell at a quick pace with the closings last month being on the market an average of 70 days compared to 90 days on market a year ago. The median price of homes closed in August in Sonoma County ($425,000) was 18% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($360,000). This is a slower pace of appreciation on a year over year basis than we’ve had over the past six months. The low median price over recent years was $292,000 in February 2011, so 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 12% of the overall inventory and distressed sales represented 33% of all new sales. There is 0.9 months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 69 distressed properties that sold in the month of August ($340,000) was 27% higher than August a year ago ($268,000).
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (43) at the end of August 2013 was slightly above that of a year ago (41) and also slightly ahead of that of last month (39). Sales for the month of August (15) were 37.5% lower than the sales a year ago (24) and 32% lower than the sales reported last month (22). There is a 2.9 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. 14% of the inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) and 13% of the new sales are distressed properties.
Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) (36) at the end of August 2013 was 12% lower than that of a year ago (41) and was slightly higher than last month (34). Sales for the month of August (6) were equal to the sales a year ago (6) and were 40% lower than last month (10). There were 7 closings in the month of August along the coast – twice as many as last August (3) and one more than last month (6). There is a six 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 (124 days) than the County in general (67 days).
Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (69) in Healdsburg at the end of August has remained steady over the past four months. It is 30% lower than last August (98). New sales (23) were down 14% from the 27 new sales in August 2012 and were down 18% from the 28 sales last month. The number of new sales per month has been generally in the same range (22-29) since January of this year. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 3 months.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (80) in Petaluma at the end of August was 7% higher than a year ago (75) and it was 10% below the supply last month (89). New sales in Petaluma in August (71) fell off sharply (-32%) from the pace of last month (105) and they were 13% behind the pace of last August (82). The market remains tight as there is just a 1.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 77 closed homes in Petaluma in August ($485,000) was up 23% from the median closing price in August 2012 ($393,000). Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 7.5% of the available inventory, 13% of new sales and 10% of closings for the month.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (277) in Santa Rosa at the end of August was 20% higher than the inventory a year ago (230) and it was 10% higher than the inventory at the end of last month (251). This is the first time in a long time where the current inventory exceeded that of a year ago. Inventory has risen every month since December of last year. New sales in August (210) were 20% below the pace in August 2012 (263) and were 22% below the pace last month (270). There is only a 1.3 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 56 days – the fastest since December 2005. The median price of the 203 homes closed in August in Santa Rosa was $390,000 compared to $335,000 a year ago – a 16% increase. The pace of appreciation slowed compared to the prior several months. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 8% of the available inventory, 12% of new sales and 12% of closings for the month.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (59) in Sebastopol at the end of August was 30% lower than that of August 2012 (84) and it was slightly below that of last month (61). There were 37 new sales for the month of August. This is equal to the new sales in August 2012 (37) and 18% below the 45 sales last month. There is a 1.6 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. There are only two 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 136 available homes in inventory at the end of August in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood). The inventory is equal to the inventory a year ago (137) and 21% higher than the inventory last month (112). There were just 37 new sales for the month, 51% lower than the pace in August 2012 (76) and 48% below the pace of last month (71). Perhaps the end of the summer brought the slow down in sales this past month. There is now a 3.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to 1.8 months last month. It will be interesting to see if the market in the Sonoma Valley picks up in September. There are only six distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) available in Sonoma at the present time.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (40) in Windsor at the end of August is 25% higher than a year ago (32) and 11% higher than last month (36). New sales in August (36) were 8% below the pace in August 2012 (39) and were 14% below the pace last month (42). There is a 1.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 15% of the available inventory, 17% of new sales and 31% of closings for the month. Though diminished in impact since last year, the distressed properties make up a higher percentage of the market in Windsor than in any other Wine Country market that we cover.
Napa County: The available number of homes and condominiums for sale in Napa County (437) continued to rise for the sixth month in a row. The inventory is 6% lower than it was in August 2012 (467) and 2% higher than last month (429). New sales (158) were 10% behind last year (175) and 7% below that of last month (170). There is a 2.8 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace. The median price of homes closed in August in Napa County ($501,000) was a whopping 32.5% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($378,000). Days On Market was 87 compared to 111 a year ago.
Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) currently make up only 4% of the inventory in Napa County. Currently there are 17 distressed properties in inventory compared to 40 a year ago. Distressed properties make up 11% of the new sales and 15% of the closings in August. There is 0.9 months supply of inventory of distressed properties based on the current sales pace. The median price of 20 distressed properties that sold in the month of August ($387,000) was 21% higher than August a year ago ($320,000).
Napa: There were 229 available homes in inventory at the end of August in the City of Napa. Like the County, this is a continuation of increased inventory for the sixth straight month. The inventory is 8% lower than the inventory a year ago (248) and 4% ahead of the inventory last month (220). There were 101 new sales for the month, 24% behind the sales pace in August 2012 (133) and 14% below the pace last month (117). There is a 2.3 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 87 homes sold in the City of Napa in August ($510,000) was 27.5% higher than the median price in August 2012 ($400,000). Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) represent just 4% of the inventory, 7% of the new sales for the month and 13% of the closings for the month. Distressed sales are drying up in Napa as in our other Wine Country markets.
Up Valley: There were 170 available homes in inventory at the end of August in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville). This is 8% lower than the inventory a year ago (185) and 2.4% ahead of the inventory last month (166). There were 30 new sales for the month. This is 36% ahead of the pace of last August (22) and equal to the pace of new sales last month (29). There is a 5.7 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 89 days compared to 153 days in August 2012.
Closings: For the month of August, the following agents enjoyed success in closing transactions:
In our Cloverdale office, Ron and Jane Pavelka had four closings.
In our Healdsburg office, Debbie Adler and Bernie Curley enjoyed two closings; and Linda Farwell and Patty Van Deren each had a closing.
In our Napa office, Tressa Anderson and Cynthia Parker each had two closings; and Charlie Laughlin, Kathleen Brophy and Nick Simon each had a closing.
In our Petaluma office, Ryan Styles had a closing.
In our Santa Rosa office, The team of Christen Hamilton and Don Hamilton enjoyed five closings; Lindsey Ehrlicher had three closings; Bonnie Falconer, Larry Tristano and Jim Famini had two closings each; and Don Jaramillo, Ryan Styles, Tommy Apostolides and Charles Himes each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office, Pam Buda tied for the Wine Country Group lead with six closings for the month; Liz Uribe enjoyed five closings; Laurie Parris had two closings and Susan Greer, Eric Lucas and Norbert Tenenbaum each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office, Sheila Deignan tied for the Wine Country Group lead with six closings; Erin George enjoyed four closings; Herb Heil had three closings; Leo Merle, Mari Johnson, Frank Lazzarotto and Joyce Davison had two closings each; and Tish Thames, Diane Litchfield, Shanis Nelson, Mike Caselli, Mara Kahn, Patty Marken, Erick Rothfeld and Barbara Sommerville each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office, Liz Manfree had five closings and Jeff Veness, Gina Papele White and Linda Alioto each had a closing for this period.
Congratulations to all!