Wine Country Real Estate Trends – April 2015
Wine Country Group Results for April 2015:
The Wine Country Group had 51 closings in April 2015 compared to 50 a year ago and 54 last month. In April, we closed homes with a total value of $30 million compared to $30 million a year ago and $33 million last month. The average selling price of the properties sold by the Wine Country Group in April was $586,689 compared to $591,207 a year ago and $608,721 last month. The Sonoma and Healdsburg offices led in April with 9 closings each while the Petaluma, Sebastopol and Santa Rosa offices had 8 closings each. The Sonoma office led in dollar volume with $6.7 million in closings while the Santa Rosa office had $5.0 million and the Petaluma and Sebastopol offices had $4.8 million each.
The Wine Country Group opened 85 new escrows for the month compared to 78 a year ago and 55 last month. The Group had only 7 canceled transactions last month compared to 13 a year ago. The Group had 22 new listings compared to 47 in April 2014 and 34 last month. It was a busy month for new sales and a slow month for listings. We currently have 75 pending sales with a value of $61 million dollars. We have 80 active listings with a value of $77 million dollars. Our average listing price is $986,000.
Wine Country Real Estate results for April 2015:
Sonoma County: The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of April continued to climb. It stood at 772 homes compared to 685 last month and 768 a year ago. This is a marginal increase on a year over year basis. New sales (617) in April were 25% ahead of that of last April (493) and were 19% ahead of the pace of last month (520). There is just a 1.3 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) dropped to 55 days compared to 66 a year ago and 65 last month. The median price of the 487 homes closed in April in Sonoma County was $510,000. This is a 16% increase over the median price in April 2014 ($440,000). This is a bigger jump in median price than we have been seeing over the past twelve months. The current median price is 13% below the peak median price for the County ($589,000) recorded in June 2005. It will be interesting if we close that spread in the next couple of months due to this active selling season.
Sonoma County Luxury Homes: About one quarter of the inventory in Sonoma County can be characterized as Luxury Homes (listing price in excess of $1,200,000). There has been a 17% increase in the number of Luxury Homes closed (289) from 5/1/14 to 4/30/15 compared to 246 from 5/1/13 to 4/30/14. There were 198 luxury properties in inventory at the end of April compared to 164 last month and 159 a year ago. Days on Market for the 30 Luxury Homes that closed in April was 57 days compared to 88 days a year ago. Luxury Homes are having about the same Days on Market as the balance of the inventory (55 days). There is a 4.3 months supply of Luxury Homes based on the current sales pace.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (31) at the end of April 2015 was 14% below the inventory a year ago (36) and was 9% below the level of the inventory last month (34). There were 21 new homes sold in April compared to 16 a year ago and 19 last month. There is a 1.5 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. The Days on Market for the 11 homes that closed in Cloverdale in April was 43 days compared to 52 a year ago and 66 last month. Homes in Cloverdale are selling at a rapid pace.
Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) at the end of April (29) was 16% ahead of the inventory a year ago (25) and slightly ahead of the inventory last month (27). There were 8 new homes sold in April that compares to 3 a year ago and 9 last month. Sales remain high for the Coastal Sonoma market. There is a 3.6 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to 3 months last month. The Days on Market of the 6 homes that closed in April was 183 days compared to 106 days a year ago and 72 days last month – so some older inventory closed in April.
Healdsburg Trends: There was a nice jump in the inventory of homes and condominiums available in Healdsburg in April. Inventory stood at 61 homes at the end of the month. This is slightly above the inventory last April (57) and 33% above the inventory of last month (46). For the third month in a row, there was also a jump in new sales. There were 27 new sales in April compared to 23 last month and just 11 in April 2014. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 2.3 months. The Days on Market for the 21 homes closed in April was 76 days compared to 93 days a year ago and 72 days last month. The Healdsburg market seems to be rebounding from a prolonged slump in both sales and inventory.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (85) at the end of April in Petaluma was 21% ahead of the inventory in April 2014 (70) and it was a healthy 44% ahead of the inventory last month (59). New sales in Petaluma in April (69) were 38% ahead of the new sales in April 2014 (50) and were 28% ahead of the sales last month (54). Both new listings and sales are popping in Petaluma. There is a 1.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 52 homes that closed in April was $526,000. This is 8% ahead of the median last April ($488,000). The median price in Petaluma has been in a relatively narrow range over the past twelve months. The Days on Market for the closed sales for the month was 42 compared to 51 days a year ago.
Rohnert Park: I was asked to add commentary regarding the market in Rohnert Park – so I’ve added it to the blog. What jumps out right away is that there were 43 new sales in the month of April when there were just 34 homes and condominiums in inventory at the beginning of the month and 31 at the end of the month. There is 0.7 months supply of inventory based on this activity. The 31 homes in inventory at the end of April was 19% ahead of the 26 homes in inventory at the end of April 2014, and the 43 new sales was about equal to the 44 new sales in April a year ago. The Days on Market for the 35 homes that closed in Rohnert Park in April was just 38 days – the lowest across our Wine Country market. The median price for the homes sold in Rohnert Park in April was $423,000. This is 3% higher than the median price in April 2014.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Santa Rosa at the end of April (255) was 10% ahead of the inventory of a year ago (231) and was 2% ahead of the inventory last month (251). New sales in April (262) were 28% ahead of the pace in April 2014 (204) and they were 11% ahead of the pace of last month (236). There is only a one months supply of available homes in Santa Rosa based on the current sales pace. Inventory is accelerating, but sales are keeping pace. The median price of the 220 homes closed in April in Santa Rosa was $474,000 compared to $401,000 a year ago – an 18% increase. The Days on Market for the homes closed in April in Santa Rosa was 51 days compared to 63 days a year ago.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (46) in Sebastopol at the end of April took another nice jump of 21% over that of last month (38) and was slightly ahead of the inventory last April (44). There were 25 new sales for the month of April compared to 24 last month and 26 a year ago. There is a 1.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market of the 20 closed homes in Sebastopol in April was 65 days compared to 52 days a year ago and 93 days last month.
Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale (113) in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) at the end of April rose for the fourth straight month. Still, inventory was 19% below the level of last April (140). It was 19% ahead of the inventory of last month (95). Sales also rose for the fourth straight month. There were 72 new sales for the month. This is 6% ahead of the pace of sales in April 2014 (68) and it is 24% ahead of the pace of last month (58). 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 54 closed sales in Sonoma in April was 65 days compared to 56 a year ago and 62 last month. The high-end market was active in the Sonoma Valley in the past month. The inventory of homes priced in excess of $3,000,000 rose to 19 from 9 a month ago. This is similar to last year when homes priced in excess of $3,000,000 rose to 17 from 8. The difference is that in April of this year there were four sales of these homes while a year ago there was just 1 sale. The four sales in excess of $3,000,000 in April all received offers within two weeks of going on the market. When these sales close, they will have a significant effect on the median price of all sales in the Sonoma Valley.
Windsor: For the third straight month, new sales in Windsor outpaced the inventory that existed at the beginning of the month. The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (32) in Windsor at the end of April was 30% ahead of the inventory in April 2014 (20) and 18% ahead of the 22 homes last month. New sales in Windsor in April (32) were 23% ahead of the sales in April 2014 (26) and were 18.5% ahead of the 27 sales last month. There is less than a one months supply of inventory in Windsor based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 27 sales that closed in April in Windsor was $575,000. This is a whopping 27% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($453,000) and it is the highest median price since October of 2007. The Days on Market for the closed homes last month was 48 days compared to 77 a year ago and 51 last month.
Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums available for sale in Napa County in April rose for the third month in a row. The inventory (354) is 10% below the inventory in April 2014 (392) and 19% ahead of the inventory last month (297). New sales rose for the fourth month in a row. They totaled 164 homes and were 43% ahead of the pace last year (115) and 11% ahead of the pace of last month (148). There is a 2.2 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 120 homes closed in April was 96 days compared to 64 days a year ago and 83 days last month. The median price of homes closed in April in Napa County ($597,000) was 24% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($481,000) and was the highest median price since November of 2007. The current median price is 12% below the peak median price for the County ($675,000) recorded in June 2006. It will be interesting to see if this median price is approached in the next several months.
Napa County Luxury Homes: If one takes the highest quartile (25%) of available inventory as the “Luxury Market”, the Luxury Market begins at $1,800,000 in Napa County at this time. Last month, the highest quartile began at $1,500,000. The sales of Luxury Homes (sales price in excess of $1,800,000) in Napa County are about the same for the period 5/1/14 to 4/30/15 (79) compared to 5/1/13 to 4/30/14 (76). There were 89 luxury homes in inventory at the end of April 2015 compared to 97 at the end of April 2014. There is a 12.7 months supply of available Luxury Homes based on the current sales pace compared to 12.1 months supply last year in April. The Napa County Luxury Home market is not as robust as the Sonoma County Luxury Home market at the present time.
Napa: There were 201 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of April in the City of Napa. This is 6% lower than the inventory a year ago (214) and it is 25% ahead of the supply last month (161). New sales (115) were 53% ahead of the pace of April 2014 (75) and they were 13% ahead of the pace of last month (102). There is a 1.7 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 82 homes closed in April in the City of Napa was 84 days compared to 55 days in April 2014 and 75 days last month. The median price of the homes that closed in Napa in April was $589,000. This is a whopping 31% ahead of the median price of the homes closed in April 2014 ($450,000) however the median price of homes sold in Napa in May 2014 was higher at $597,000. The median price in April remains 9% below the peak median price in the City of Napa ($650,000) recorded in August 2006. That is very close to the peak!
Up Valley Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (105) in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville) at the end of April 2015 was 27% below the level of 144 in April 2014 and it was 12% ahead of the level last month (94). There were 27 new sales for the month. This is 35% ahead of the 20 sales a year ago and slightly behind the 28 sales last month. There is a 3.9 months supply of inventory compared to 7.2 months a year ago. The Days on Market for the 22 closings last month was 172 days compared to 104 days in April a year ago, 106 days last month and 96 days for the County as a whole. So, some older inventory was moving in April of this year.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from April 1, 2015 to April 30, 2015:
In our Bodega Bay office, Deborah Melancon enjoyed a closing.
In our Cloverdale office: Ron and Jane Pavelka enjoyed five closings.
In our Healdsburg office: Debbie Adler, Michael Downes, Debbie Hendershot and Tom Lawrence each had two closings, and Gina Cleaver and Bernie Curley each had a closing.
In our Napa office: Kacy Kinder enjoyed two closings.
In our Petaluma office: Paul Claeyssens had six closings and Randy Haak and Barry Adamson each enjoyed a closing.
In our Santa Rosa office: Sarah Carlson enjoyed three closings; Mark Payne had two closings, and Lori Allen and Carlos Rivas of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Liz Uribe enjoyed three closings and Rikki Barron, Rita De Souza, Laurie Parris and Jeffrey Seligson each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan enjoyed five closings; Mari Johnson enjoyed two closings and Herb Heil and Dan Gallagher each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: David Barker enjoyed a closing.
Congratulations to all