Core Values
Those that 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
“Authenticity” is important to us. We honor our commitments, we treat customers and each other fairly, we speak the truth. We communicate clearly and listen.
Next post: Innovation.
Wine Country Real Estate Trends in March 2014
Wine Country Group Results for March 2014
A year over year 20% increase in the average sales price of closed units in March helped the Wine Country Group have about the same dollar volume in sales that we experienced in March 2013. Our average closing price for the month was $624,658 compared to $518,420 last March. We closed a total of $35.6 million in sales compared to $38.9 million a year ago and $19.3 million last month. We had 57 closed transactions compared to 75 in March 2013 and 38 last month. The Santa Rosa office led with 14 closings for the month while the Sebastopol and Napa offices both had nine closings. The Sebastopol office led in dollar volume with $7.0 million in sales while the Sonoma office had $6.6 million and the Santa Rosa office had $6.3 million.
The Wine Country Group opened 72 new escrows for the month compared to 94 a year ago and 71 last month. The group had 41 new listings compared to 39 in March 2013 and 24 last month. We currently have 77 pending sales with a value of $67 million dollars. We have 120 active listings with a value of $129 million dollars. Our average listing price is $1,071,000 – up 13% from an average of $950,000 a year ago.
Wine Country Real Estate results for March 2014:
REO and Short Sale Markets– This month, after seven years, I am discontinuing the tracking of REO and Short Sales (distressed sales). They are still occurring, but at a diminishing frequency that makes their impact on the market negligible. If there are specific markets or transactions where distressed sales are affecting the overall market, I will definitely recount that in the blog.
Cancellations: There has been an increase in the number of cancelled transactions over the past several months. As the market moves towards a more balanced market, and less of a seller’s market, buyers appear to be becoming more demanding and are rejecting properties if their immediate repair and renovation costs are high and not addressed by the seller.
Sonoma County: Sonoma County inventory rose 11% in March 2014 adding 492 new listings for the month compared to 399 new listings in February and 602 last year. The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of March stood at 660 compared to 638 a year ago. New sales (497) in March were down18% from last year (609) and were about equal to that of last month (490). There is a 1.3 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace – still a tight “Seller’s” market. The median price of homes closed in March in Sonoma County ($470,000) was 25% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($377,000). While the median price was stable from June of last year through last month, the median took a 12% increase over last month bringing up the year over year spread. The median has reached its highest point since January 2008, over six years ago.
Sonoma County Luxury Homes: Sales of luxury homes (sales price in excess of $900,000) in Sonoma County have enjoyed a strong growth in the last twelve months. There has been a 38% increase in the number of luxury homes closed (457) from 4/1/13 to 3/31/14 compared to 332 from 4/1/13 to 3/31/13. There were 43 new luxury sales in the County last month compared to 34 in March 2013 and 47 last month. There is a 4.3 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace compared to 5.5 months supply last year. The inventory of luxury homes in Sonoma County jumped up last month. It was 183 units at the end of March compared to 152 last month and 261 a year ago. Days on Market for closed luxury sales dropped from 146 days last year to 121 days this year.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (34) at the end of March 2014 was 13% ahead of that of a year ago (30) and was equal to the inventory last month. Sales for the month of March (22) jumped up 175% from last month (8) and were 16% ahead of the sales a year ago (19). There is only a 1.5 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. Days on market for the 14 closings that occurred in March fell to 45 days from 59 days a year ago.
Coastal Sonoma: Things seem to have settled into a solid pattern in the Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) market. There were 6 new home sales for the month of March compared to 8 a year ago and 6 last month. The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (19) at the end of March was 24% lower than that of a year ago (25) and was slightly ahead of that of last month (17). There is just a 3.2 months supply of available inventory in the Coastal Sonoma market based on the current pace of new sales. The Days on Market (96) remains relatively high when compared to the rest of the County (70).
Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (44) in Healdsburg at the end of March was down 15% from that of last year (52) and it was equal to that of last month. Inventory remains very low in Healdsburg. New sales (20) were 31% below the 29 new sales in March 2013 and were slightly ahead of the 18 sales last month. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 2.2 months. The “Spring market” seems to be delayed in Healdsburg and Sebastopol, so we’ll watch to see if it jumps into place in these markets in the next couple of months as it did last year.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (56) in Petaluma at the end of March was 7% lower than a year ago (60) and it was 27% ahead of the supply last month (44). This remains a very low level of inventory in Petaluma. New sales in March (49) were 4% below the pace in March 2013 (51) and slightly below the pace of last month (51). There is just a 1.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 46 homes that closed in March was $558,000. This is 38% ahead of the median last March ($405,000) and, as with the County, 12% ahead of last month.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Santa Rosa at the end of March (201) was 9.2% higher than a year ago (184) and was roughly equal to last month (194). New sales in March (212) were 19% below the pace in March 2013 (262) and they were equal to the pace of last month (213). There is only a 0.9 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace. The median price of homes closed in March in Santa Rosa was $425,000 compared to $340,000 a year ago – a 25% increase. The Days on Market for the 169 closed transactions in March 2014 was 65 days compared to 76 days a year ago.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (37) in Sebastopol at the end of March was 32% lower than that of March 2013 (54) and it was about equal to that of last month (36). There were 29 new sales for the month of March compared to 31 in March 2013 and 31 for last month. The sales pace remained three times the pace of December and January when the market was extremely slow. There is a 1.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. We’ll see if some new listings come on the market in Sebastopol in April to help balance the market.
Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale (99) rose dramatically in March in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood). Inventory was 99 units at the end of March compared to 65 last month. Inventory is the same as it was in March 2013. There were 52 new sales for the month. This is about equal to the sales in March 2013 (51) and 33% ahead of the pace last month (39). There is just a 1.9 months supply of inventory in Sonoma based on the current pace of sales.
PS – The Wine Country Group Sonoma office has called the “Sebastiani Hall” of the Sebastiani Theatre home since the year 2000. The “Hall” was first opened on April 6, 1934, eighty years ago. So, happy anniversary to the venerable “Sebastiani Hall”.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (28) in Windsor at the end of March doubled the inventory in March 2013 (14) and it was equal to the supply last month (27). New sales retreated in March (26) and were 30% below the pace in March 2013 (40) and they were 26% below the pace of last month (38). There is just a one months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 23 sales that closed in March was $435,000. This is 16% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($375,000). Days on Market fell to 46 days compared to 80 last year and 74 last month. Things are moving quickly in Windsor.
Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums available for sale jumped ahead in Napa County in March. The inventory (333) is 11% higher than it was in March 2013 (301) and 18.5% higher than last month (281). New sales (153) also jumped ahead 52% compared to last month (101) but were 13% lower than last year (176). There is a 2.2 months supply of inventory based on the existing sales pace. The median price of homes closed in March in Napa County ($537,000) was a whopping 37% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($403,000) after a fifteen percent increase from last month. The median has reached its highest point since February 2008, over six years ago.
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 28% increase in the number of luxury homes closed (228) from 4/1/13 to 3/31/14 compared to 177 from 4/1/12 to 3/31/13. There were 28 new luxury home sales in March 2014 compared to 15 in March 2013 and 19 last month. There is a 5.7 months supply of available homes based on the current sales pace compared to 7.1 months supply last year. The inventory of luxury homes in Napa County at the end of March was 160 units compared to 140 a year ago.
Napa: There were 178 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of March in the City of Napa. This is 14% higher than the inventory a year ago (156) and 13% higher than the supply last month. There was a big jump (62.5%) in new sales (104) for the month compared to last month (64). This sales pace is still 12% lower than the sales in March 2013 (118). There is a 1.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 63 homes that closed in Napa in March was $525,000, 34% ahead of the median price in March 2013 ($392,000).
Up Valley: There was a 25% increase in available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of March compared to last month in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville). The inventory was 120 homes at the end of March 2014 compared to 96 last month and 117 a year ago. There were 31 new sales for the month. This is a slightly ahead of the pace in March 2013 (27) and 55% ahead of the pace last month (20). There is a 3.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market for the 22 closings last month was 139 days compared to 100 days for the County as a whole.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from March 1 to March 31, 2014:
In our Cloverdale office: Ron and Jane Pavelka had three closings.
In our Healdsburg office: Judy Csimma and Ken Scharer each had a closing.
In our Napa office: Kathleen Brophy and Shawn Daee each had two closings and Tressa Anderson, Andrew Arnerich, Cynthia Parker and Nick Simone each had a closing.
In our Petaluma office: David Poulsen, Scott Stevens and Scott Murphy each had a closing.
In our Santa Rosa office: The Hamilton Group had a Wine Country Group leading seven closings and Charles Himes, Jill Rake, Lindsey Ehrlicher, Don Jaramillo, Mark Payne, Conrad Worthy and Tommy Apostolides each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Jeffrey Seligson enjoyed four closings and Rikki Barron, Rita DeSouza, Susan Greer and Elizabeth Uribe each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan had two closings and Mara Kahn, Patti Keiser, Diane Krause, Leo Merle, Herb Heil and Diane Litchfield each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: David Barker and Linda Alioto each had two closings and Rianne Pasquariello had a closing for this period.
Congratulations to all