Wine Country Real Estate Trends – March 2015
Wine Country Group Results for March 2015:
The Wine Country Group had 54 closings in March 2015 compared to 57 a year ago and 40 last month. In March, we closed homes with a total value of $33 million compared to $36 million a year ago and $27 million last month. The average selling price of the properties sold by the Wine Country Group in February was $608,721 compared to $624,658 a year ago and $679,307 last month. The Sebastopol office led in March with 11 closings while the Sonoma and Santa Rosa offices had 10 closings each and the St. Helena office had 9 closings. The Santa Rosa office led in dollar volume with $7.6 million in closings while the St. Helena office had $7.0 million and the Sonoma and Sebastopol offices had $5.4 million each.
The Wine Country Group opened 55 new escrows for the month compared to 72 a year ago and 50 last month. The Group had only 24 canceled transactions last month compared to 27 a year ago. The Group had 34 new listings compared to 41 in March 2014 and 28 last month. We currently have 84 pending sales with a value of $70 million dollars. We have 82 active listings with a value of $80 million dollars. Our average listing price is $977,000.
Wine Country Real Estate results for March 2015:
Sonoma County: The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of March continued to climb and climbed at a faster pace (22% v. 16%) on a month over month basis compared to March 2014. Inventory stood at 685 homes compared to 560 last month and 660 a year ago. This is a 4% increase on a year over year basis. New sales (564) in March were 26% ahead of that of last March (449) and were 55% ahead of the pace of last month (364). There is just a 1.2 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 65 days compared to 71 a year ago and 81 last month. The median price of the 373 homes closed in March in Sonoma County was $479,000. This is a 2% increase over the median price in March 2014 ($470,000). The median price for closed sales has been in a relatively narrow range over the past 12 months. The current median price is still 19% below the peak median price for the County ($589,000) recorded in June 2005.
Sonoma County Luxury Homes: About one quarter of the inventory in Sonoma County can be characterized as Luxury Homes (listing price in excess of $1,100,000). There has been an 9.6% increase in the number of Luxury Homes closed (331) from 4/1/14 to 3/31/15 compared to 302 from 4/1/13 to 3/31/14. There were 186 luxury properties in inventory at the end of March compared to 152 last month and 147 a year ago. Days on Market for the 25 Luxury Homes that closed in March was 96 days compared to 143 days a year ago. This compares to 65 days on market for all closed properties in the County in March.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (34) at the end of March 2015 was equal to the inventory a year ago (34) and was 13% ahead of the level of the inventory last month (30). There were 22 new sales in March compared to 22 a year ago and 10 last month. This is the second year in a row where we’ve seen a jump in sales (more than twice as many) in March compared to January and February. There is a 1.5 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of sales. The Days on Market for the 12 homes that closed in Cloverdale in March was 66 days compared to 45 a year ago and 134 last month.
Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) at the end of March (27) was 42% ahead of the inventory a year ago (19) and 16% below the inventory last month (32). There were 10 new homes sold in March that compares to 5 a year ago and 3 last month. This is the highest number of new sales in Coastal Sonoma for any month in the last 15 months. There is a 2.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to 10.7 months last month. The Days on Market of the 5 homes that closed in March was 72 days compared to 96 days a year ago.
Healdsburg Trends: There were 46 homes and condominiums available in Healdsburg at the end of March. This is slightly above the inventory last March (44) and 12% above the inventory of last month (41). Healdsburg inventory remains near fifteen-year lows. For the second month in a row, there was a jump in new sales. 25 homes sold in March compared to 17 last month and 18 in March 2014. The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 1.8 months. The Days on Market for the 15 homes closed in March was 72 days compared to 118 days a year ago and 109 days last month. There seems to be a pick-up in the selling of homes in Healdsburg, but not in the listing of them.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (59) at the end of March in Petaluma was 5% ahead of the inventory in March 2014 (56) and it was 28% ahead of the inventory last month (46). New sales in Petaluma in March (58) were 32% ahead of the new sales in March 2014 (44) and were 49% ahead of the sales last month (39). There continues to be just a one months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 39 homes that closed in March was $525,000. This is 5% below the median last March ($554,000). The median price has been in a relatively narrow range over the past twelve months. The Days on Market for the closed sales for the month was 55 which is the same as it was a year ago.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Santa Rosa at the end of March (251) was 25% ahead of the inventory of a year ago (201) and was 27% ahead of the inventory last month (197). New sales in March (254) were 32% ahead of the pace in March 2014 (192) and they were 64% ahead of the pace of last month (155). 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 168 homes closed in March in Santa Rosa was $450,000 compared to $425,000 a year ago – a 6% increase. The Days on Market for the homes closed in March in Santa Rosa was 62 days compared to 65 days a year ago. The sales pattern has pretty much settled into this 60+/- day period.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (38) in Sebastopol at the end of March took another nice jump of 27% over that of last month (30) and was slightly ahead of the inventory last March (37). New sales also advanced quickly in March. There were 25 new sales for the month of March compared to 10 last month and 24 a year ago. There is a 1.5 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market of the 17 closed homes in Sebastopol in March was 93 days compared to 72 days a year ago. Sales were taking a little longer in Sebastopol compared to the County as a whole.
Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale (95) in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) at the end of March was 4% below the level of last March (99) but it was 36% ahead of the inventory of last month (70). There were 60 new sales for the month. This is 28% ahead of the pace of sales in March 2014 (47) and it is 50% ahead of the pace of last month (40). 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 35 closed sales in Sonoma in March was 61 days compared to 104 a year ago and 75 last month. Nearly one half of the inventory in the Sonoma Valley is priced at $1,000,000 or above while 23% of the new sales and closings last month were priced at $1,000,000 or more. Continuing this luxury trend, six of the twelve properties on tour in the Sonoma Valley today (4/16/15) were priced in excess of $1,000,000 and five of those six were priced at $4,000,000 or higher.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (22) in Windsor at the end of March was 21% below the homes in inventory in March 2014 (28) and 29% ahead of the 17 homes last month. New sales in Windsor in March (28) were about equal to the sales in March 2014 (27) and were 40% ahead of the 20 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 21 sales that closed in March in Windsor was $535,000. This is 24% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($433,000) and it was over $500,000 for the first time in 12 months. Days on Market for the closed homes last month was 52 days compared to 57 a year ago..
Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums available for sale in Napa County in March continued to increase slowly. The inventory (297) is 11% below the inventory in March 2014 (333) and 10% ahead of the inventory last month (270). New sales (157) were 10% ahead of the pace last year (143) and 35% ahead of the pace of last month (116). There is a 1.9 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 114 homes closed in March was 81 days compared to 98 days a year ago and 113 days last month. The median price of homes closed in March in Napa County ($545,000) was 3% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($531,000). The current median price is still 20% below the peak median price for the County ($675,000) recorded in June 2006.
Napa County Luxury Homes: If one takes the highest quartile (25%) of available inventory as the “Luxury Market”, the Luxury Market begins at $1,500,000 in Napa County at this time. The sales of Luxury Homes (sales price in excess of $1,500,000) in Napa County have increased 33% for the period 4/1/14 to 3/31/15 (112) compared to 4/1/13 to 3/31/14 (84). There were 83 luxury homes in inventory at the end of March 2015 compared to 101 at the end of March 2014. There is a 6.4 months supply of available Luxury Homes based on the current sales pace compared to 8.4 months supply last year in March.
Napa: There were 161 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of March in the City of Napa. This is 10% lower than the inventory a year ago (178) and it is 11% ahead of the supply last month (145). New sales (110) were 12% ahead of the pace of March 2014 (98) and they were 45% ahead of the pace of last month (76). There is a 1.5 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 75 homes closed in March in the City of Napa was 72 days compared to 84 days in March 2014. The median price of the homes that closed in Napa in March was $546,000. This is 4% ahead of the median price of the homes closed in March 2014 ($523,000). The median price in March remains 16% below the peak median price in the City of Napa ($650,000) recorded in August 2006.
Up Valley Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (94) in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville) at the end of March 2015 was 22% below the level of 120 in March 2014 and it was 8% ahead of the level last month (87). There were 28 new sales for the month. This is equal to the 28 sales a year ago and 47% ahead of the 19 sales last month. There is a 3.4 months supply of inventory compared to 4.3 months a year ago. This is the lowest “months of inventory” in the past 12 months. The Days on Market for the 20 closings last month was 103 days compared to 134 days in March a year ago and 81 days for the County as a whole.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from March 1, 2015 to March 31, 2015:
In our Bodega Bay office, Deborah Melancon enjoyed two closings.
In our Cloverdale office: Ron and Jane Pavelka enjoyed four closings.
In our Healdsburg office: Gina Cleaver, Linda Farwell and Jose Hernandez each had a closing.
In our Petaluma office: JoAnn Claeyssens and Paul Claeyssens each enjoyed a closing.
In our Santa Rosa office: Sarah Carlson enjoyed two closings and Ron and Lyn Crocker of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Rikki Barron, William Cole, Michaela Kalemba, Eric Lucas, Laurie Parris and Christopher Williams each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Mari Johnson and Erick Rothfeld enjoyed two closings each and Herb Heil, Erin George and Tiffany Knef, Diane Krause and Leo Merle each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: Linda Alioto had a Wine Country Group leading four closings; David Barker and Rianne Pasquariello had two closings each and Liz Manfree enjoyed a closing.
Congratulations to all