Wine Country Real Estate Trends – January 2015
Wine Country Group Results for January 2015:
The Wine Country Group had 44 closings in January 2015 compared to 53 a year ago and 54 last month. In January, we closed homes with a total value of $23 million compared to $45 million a year ago and $31 last month. The average selling price of the properties sold by the Wine Country Group in January was $520,385 compared to $846,734 a year ago and $574,433 last month. The Santa Rosa office led in January with 10 closings while the Sonoma office had 8 closings and the Sebastopol and Petaluma offices each had 7. The Sonoma office led in dollar volume with $5.9 million in closings while the Santa Rosa office had $4.7 million and the Healdsburg office had $4.1 million.
The Wine Country Group opened 71 new escrows for the month compared to 44 a year ago and 40 last month. The Santa Rosa and Petaluma offices had 16 new sales each for the month. The Group had 29 new listings compared to 32 in January 2014 and 12 last month. Clearly things are picking up as we move into February. We currently have 69 pending sales with a value of $50 million dollars. We have 90 active listings with a value of $91 million dollars. Our average listing price is $1,007,000.
Wine Country Real Estate trends in January 2015:
Sonoma County: The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of January stood at 495 compared to 512 last month and 600 a year ago. This is a 17.5% decrease on a year over year basis and a 3.3% decrease from last month. This is the lowest level of Inventory in Sonoma County in the past fifteen years. Inventory is less than one-half of what it was in July 2014 (997). It is less than one fifth of the inventory that the County had in January of 2008 (2,774). New sales (361) in January were 8% ahead of that of last January (335) and were 39% ahead of the pace of last month (260). There is just a 1.4 months supply of inventory in Sonoma County based on the existing sales pace. The time it takes to sell a home in Sonoma County (Days on Market) is 86 days compared to 80 a year ago. This selling period has stabilized over the past year. The median price of homes closed in January in Sonoma County was $461,000. This is an 8% increase over the median price in January 2014 ($425,000). The median price for closed sales has been in a relatively narrow range since March of last year. The current median price is still 22% 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 a 17% increase in the number of Luxury Homes closed (332) from 2/1/14 to 1/31/15 compared to 283 from 2/1/13 to 1/31/14. There were 122 luxury properties in inventory at the end of January compared to 129 last month and 124 a year ago. Days on Market for the 16 Luxury Homes that closed in January was 221 days compared to 133 days a year ago. This compares to 86 days on market for all closed properties in the County in January. Clearly, some homes that were on the market a long time closed in January.
Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (27) at the end of January 2015 was equal to the inventory a year ago (26) and was 28.6% ahead of the level of the inventory last month (21). There were 9 new homes sold in January compared to 10 a year ago and 9 last month. There is a 3 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. The Days on Market for the 8 homes that closed in Cloverdale in January was 122 days compared to 97 a year ago.
Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) at the end of January (26) was 53% ahead of the inventory a year ago (17) and 7% below the inventory last month (28). After just one new home sale for the month of December, there were 5 in January. This compares to 7 a year ago. The Days on Market of the 3 homes that closed in January was 28 days compared to 101 days a year ago and 226 days last month. Clearly, the brand new inventory is what closed last month.
Healdsburg Trends: There were 38 homes and condominiums available in Healdsburg at the end of January. This is 7.3% below the inventory last January (41) and equal to the inventory of last month (37). This remains the lowest level of inventory in Healdsburg in the last fifteen years. There were 10 new sales for the month. This is a 50% below the pace in January 2014 (20) and about equal to the pace last month (11). The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 3.8 months. The Days on Market for the 8 homes closed in January was 76 days compared to 116 days a year ago and 133 days last month.
Petaluma: In an unusual circumstance, the sales of homes and condominiums in Petaluma in January (47) exceeded the amount of inventory available at the end of December (39). The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (43) at the end of January was equal to the inventory in January 2014 (44) and it was 10% ahead of the inventory last month (39). Like the County, this is the close to the lowest level of inventory in Petaluma for over fifteen years. New sales in Petaluma in January (47) were 34% ahead of the 35 new sales in January 2014 and 24% ahead of the sales last month (38). There is less than a one months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 36 homes that closed in January was $480,000. This is 5% ahead of the median last January ($458,000). The Days on Market for the closed sales for the month was 79 compared to 59 days a year ago.
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Santa Rosa at the end of January (175) was 12% below that of a year ago (199) and was 4.4% below the inventory last month (183). This low inventory mirrors the trend in the County as a whole. New sales in January (163) were 6% ahead of the pace in January 2014 (154) and they jumped up 45% from the pace of last month (112). There is only a 1.1 months supply of available homes in Santa Rosa based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 96 homes closed in January in Santa Rosa was $449,000 compared to $397,000 a year ago – a 13% increase. The Days on Market for the homes closed in January in Santa Rosa was 81 days compared to 77 days a year ago.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (21) in Sebastopol at the end of January was 46% lower than that of January 2014 (39) and it was 12.5% lower than that of last month (24). This is the lowest available inventory in Sebastopol in over fifteen years. Inventory can typically be twice this large around this time of year in Sebastopol. There were 10 new sales for the month of January. This is equal to the pace in January 2014 (10) and one unit below the pace of last month (11). There is a 2.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market of the 9 closed homes in Sebastopol in January was 77 days compared to 98 days a year ago. The median price of the sales that closed in January in Sebastopol was $510,000. This is 13.6 below the median price of a year ago ($590,000).
Sonoma Valley: The Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) is one of the few places in Wine Country where the inventory increased in January from its level in December. The number of available homes and condominiums for sale (69) in January was 13% ahead of the level of last January (61) and it was 8% ahead of the inventory of last month (64). There were 28 new sales for the month. This is 4% ahead of the pace of sales in January 2014 (27) and it is 33% ahead of the pace of last month (21). There is a 2.5 months supply of inventory in Sonoma based on the current pace of sales. The Days on Market for the 23 closed sales in Sonoma in January was 89 days compared to 81 a year ago and 81 last month. 36% of the inventory in the Sonoma Valley is priced at $1,000,000 or above while 21% of the new sales (6) and 13% of the closings (3) last month were priced at $1,000,000 or more.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (24) in Windsor at the end of January is about equal to the homes in inventory in January 2014 and also equal to the 24 homes last month. New sales in Windsor in January (17) were equal to the sales in January 2014 and were 10.5% behind the 19 sales last month. There is a 1.4 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 18 sales that closed in January in Windsor was $492,000. This is 7% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($460,000).
Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums available for sale in Napa County in January continued to decline. The inventory (263) is 3% below the inventory in January 2014 (271) and 9% below the inventory last month (289). This is the lowest level of inventory in Napa Country in the past fifteen years. New sales (111) were 6% ahead of the pace last year (105) and 57% ahead of the pace of last month (70). There is a 2.4 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to a 3.8 months supply at the end of December. The Days on Market for the 73 homes closed in January was 102 days compared to 111 days a year ago and 95 days last month. The median price of homes closed in January in Napa County ($495,000) was 4% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($476,000). The current median price is still 27% 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 27% for the period 2/1/14 to 1/31/15 (103) compared to 2/1/13 to 1/31/14 (81). There were 68 luxury homes in inventory at the end of January 2015 compared to 70 at the end of January 2014. There is a 9.7 months supply of available Luxury Homes based on the current sales pace compared to 6.4 months supply last year.
Napa: There were 140 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of January in the City of Napa. This is 11.4% lower than the inventory a year ago (158) and it is 11% below the supply last month (157). As with Napa County, this is the lowest level of inventory in the City of Napa since 2000, or before. New sales (77) were 26% ahead of the pace of January 2014 (61) and they were 60.4% ahead of the pace of last month (48). There is a 1.8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace compared to a 3.0 months supply at the end of December. The Days on Market for the 52 homes closed in January in the City of Napa was 91 days compared to 108 days in January 2014. The median price of the homes that closed in Napa in January was $498,000. This is 4% below the median price of the homes closed in January 2014 ($518,000). The median price in December remains 23% 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 (84) in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville) at the end of January 2015 was about equal to the level of 85 in January 2014 and it was 8% below the level last month (91). There were 15 new sales for the month compared to 25 a year ago and just 6 last month. There is a 5.6 months supply of inventory compared to 3.8 months a year ago. The Days on Market for the 9 closings last month was 170 days compared to 132 days in January a year ago and 102 days for the County as a whole.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from January 1, 2015 to January 31, 2015.
In our Bodega Bay office: Barbara and Paul Cronick enjoyed two closings.
In our Healdsburg office: Mike Downes and Gina Cleaver had two closings each and Debbie Adler, Ken Knight and Kent Mitchell each had a closing.
In our Napa office: Cynthia Parker einjoyed a closing.
In our Petaluma office: JoAnn Claeyssens, Paul Claeyssens and Barry Adamson had two closings each and Michael Arieta enjoyed a closing.
In our Santa Rosa office: James Famini enjoyed a Wine Country Group leading three closings for the month and Donald Hamilton, Tommy Apostolides and Charles Himes each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Rita DeSouza, Lori Allen, Sandy Matthews, Robert Owen and Laurie Parris each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan enjoyed two closings and Diane Krause, Mari Johnson, Patty Marken, Erick Rothfeld and Erin George and Tiffany Knef each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: Rianne Pasquariello had two closings and Liz Manfree enjoyed a closing.
Congratulations to all