Wine Country Real Estate Trends in July 2016
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate – Wine Country Group Results for July 2016
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate – Wine Country Group had 46 closings in July 2016 compared to 74 a year ago and 45 last month. In July, we closed homes with a total value of $27 million compared to $47 million a year ago and $29.6 last month. The average selling price of the properties sold by the Wine Country Group in July was $588,391 compared to $635,514 a year ago and $658,610 last month. The Healdsburg and Sonoma offices led the BHGRE-WCG with 9 closings in the month, and the St. Helena office had 8 closings in July. The Healdsburg office led the Group with $6.4 million in dollar volume while the Sonoma office had $5.9 million and the Sebastopol office had $4.0 million.
BHGRE – WCG opened 62 new escrows for the month compared to 51 a year ago and 67 last month. The Group had 44 new listings compared to 21 in July 2015 and 19 last month. So it was a good month for opening escrows and taking listings. We currently have 71 pending sales with a value of $62 million dollars. We have 81 active listings with a value of $80 million dollars. Our average listing price is $991,000. This is 8% lower than the $1,079,000 average a year ago.
Wine Country Real Estate results for July 2016:
Sonoma County: The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of July stood at 912 compared to 914 a year ago and 945 last month. This is the first decline in inventory since January of this year. It is normal for inventory to start to decline in July/August of each year. New sales (561) in July were 2.4% ahead of last July (548) and were 7.5% ahead of the pace of last month (522). There is a 1.9 months supply of inventory in Sonoma County based on the existing sales pace. In July 2008, there was a 6.6 months supply of inventory. The time it takes to sell a home in Sonoma County (Days on Market) is 56 days – about the same as a year ago (57). The median price of homes closed in July in Sonoma County was $535,000. This is a 3% increase over the median price in July 2015 ($518,000). The median price has ranged between $500,000 and $550,000 over the past twelve months and double-digit appreciation seems to have abated except in certain markets and price ranges. The current median price is 9% 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 $1,300,000). There has been a slight increase in the number of Luxury Homes closed (253) from 7/1/15 to 6/30/16 compared to 250 from 7/1/14 to 6/30/15. The pace of closings of Luxury Homes in July (25) was 17% behind that of a month ago (30) and was about 22% behind the pace of a year ago (32). New sales (35) were slightly ahead of last month (33), and were about 17% ahead of the pace of a year ago (30). There were 230 luxury properties in inventory at the end of July compared to 236 last month and 193 a year ago. The Days on Market for Luxury Home sales was 132 days this July compared to 76 days a year ago. This compares to 56 Days on Market for all closed properties in the County in July. There is a 7 months supply of inventory of luxury properties based upon the current sales pace compared to a 1.6 months supply in the overall Sonoma County market. It continues to lean towards a “Buyers Market” in the high end.
Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) at the end of July (32) was slightly below the inventory a year ago (33) and 10% above the inventory last month (29). There were 4 new home sales for the month of July compared to 6 a year ago and 3 last month. The Days on Market of the 4 homes that closed in July was 93 days compared to 65 days last month and 114 days a year ago.
Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums available in Healdsburg at the end of July (101) was 20% higher than last month (84) and was 42% ahead of last year (71). This is the highest inventory in Healdsburg since October of 2011. There were 17 new sales for the month. This is about equal to the pace in July 2015 (18) and 23% below the pace last month (22). The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace is 5.9 months. The Days on Market for the 15 homes closed in July was 82 days compared to 63 days a year ago and 54 days last month. The high-end quartile (top 25%) of inventory in Healdsburg at the end of July started at $2,200,000. Of the 17 new sales last month, 4 of the properties were in the top quartile. The months of available inventory in the high-end is 12 months.
Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (69) in Petaluma at the end of July was 7% behind the inventory in July 2015 (74) and it was 8% lower than the inventory last month (75). There were 60 new sales for the month compared to 62 last month and 79 last July (a 24% decrease). The market remains at 1.1 months of available inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 62 homes that closed in July was $628,000. This is 15% higher than the median last July ($545,000) – but it was close to the median price over the past five months. The Days on Market for the closed sales for the month was 53 days compared to 59 a year ago and 41 last month.
Rohnert Park and Cotati: Rohnert Park and Cotati remains the most volatile market in Wine Country. There were 69 new sales in July compared to 51 last month and 58 in July 2015. Inventory began the month at 47 homes and ended the month at 43 homes. So, as new inventory comes on the market, it sells almost immediately. There is just a 0.6 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market for the 56 homes that closed in Rohnert Park and Cotati in July was 44 days compared to 40 days a year ago and 40 days last month. The median price ($466,000) closed in July was 6% higher than the median price of closed homes a year ago ($439,000).
Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Santa Rosa at the end of July (320) was 5% ahead of that of a year ago (306) and was about equal to the inventory last month (324). New sales in July (217) were equal to the pace of last month (217) and also equal to the pace of last July (216). There is only a 1.5 months supply of available homes in Santa Rosa based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 212 homes closed in July in Santa Rosa was $497,000 compared to $473,000 a year ago – a 5% increase. The Days on Market for the homes closed in July in Santa Rosa was 53 days compared to 52 a year ago and 48 last month.
Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (56) in Sebastopol at the end of July was 12% below that of July 2015 (64) and it was 22% higher than that of last month (46). There were 139 homes in inventory in Sebastopol in July 2009. There were 29 new sales for the month of July. This is 7% ahead of the pace last month (27) and 53% ahead of the pace in July 2015 (19). There is a 1.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market of the 25 closed homes in Sebastopol in July was 68 days compared to 70 days a year ago and 45 days last month.
Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale (120) at the end of July in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) was equal to the inventory in July 2015 (121) and was 15% below the inventory of last month (141). There were 59 new sales for the month. This is about equal to the pace of sales in July 2015 (58) and it is 41% ahead of the pace of last month (42). There is a 2 months supply of inventory in Sonoma based on the current pace of sales. The Days on Market for the 31 closed sales in Sonoma in July was 54 days compared to 65 a year ago and 67 last month. 57% of the inventory in the Sonoma Valley is priced at $1,000,000 or above while 41% of the new sales (24) were priced at $1,000,000 or more. The months of inventory for the $1,000,000 plus properties is 2.8 months compared to 2 months for the market as a whole. The high-end quartile (top 25%) of inventory in the Sonoma Valley at the end of July started at $2,500,000. There were 23 sales in the top quartile (excess of $2,900,000) over the past twelve months compared to 23 sales in this price range in the prior 12 months. The months of available inventory in the high-end is 6 months compared to 2 months for the overall market.
Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (35) in Windsor at the end of July was 39% lower than the 57 homes in inventory in July 2015 and 19% lower than the 43 homes last month. There were 37 new sales in Windsor in July. This is 16% ahead of the sales in July 2015 (32) and the 32 sales last month. There is a 0.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The median price of the 25 sales that closed in July in Windsor was $526,000. This is 6% below the median price ($543,000) of the 30 homes closed last July.
Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums available for sale in Napa County at the end of July (418) is 14% higher than the inventory in July 2015 (368) and is 12% ahead of the inventory last month (373). New sales (146) were 2% below the pace last year (149) and 5% below the pace of last month (153). There is a 2.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market for the 141 homes closed in July was 79 days compared to 73 days a year ago and 62 days last month. The median price of homes closed in July in Napa County ($625,000) was essentially equal to the median price of a year ago ($624,000). The current median price remains 7% 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 $2,100,000 in Napa County at this time. The number of sales (89) of Luxury Homes (sales price in excess of $2,100,000) in Napa County is 35% ahead for the period 7/1/15 to 6/30/16 compared to 7/1/14 to 6/30/15 (66 homes). There were 104 luxury homes in inventory at the end of July 2016 compared to 99 at the end of July 2015. There is a 13 months supply of available Luxury Homes based on the current sales pace compared to 14 months supply last year.
Napa: There were 223 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of July in the City of Napa. This is 9% ahead of the inventory a year ago (204) and it is 12% ahead of the supply last month (199). New sales (103) were essentially equal to the pace of July 2015 (104) and they were also close to the pace of last month (101). There is a 2.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market for the 95 homes closed in July in the City of Napa was 69 days compared to 60 days in July 2015 and 58 days last month. The median price of the homes that closed in Napa in July was $690,000. This is 10.6% ahead of the median price of the homes closed in July 2015 ($624,000). For the first time, the median price for any month has exceeded (+6%) 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 (144) in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville) at the end of July 2016 was 26% above the level of 114 in July 2015 and it was 4% ahead of the level last month (139). There were 20 new sales for the month compared to 17 a year ago and 27 last month. Sales have been steady in the mid teens to mid twenties range for over a year. There is now a 7.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. The Days on Market for the 18 closings last month was 89 days compared to 133 days in July a year ago and 81 days last month. The overall county has 79 Days on Market.
Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from July 1 to July 31, 2016:
In our Healdsburg office: Debbie Adler had three closings, Diane Harris and Maria Avila had two closings each and Gina Cleaver, Mike Downes, Tom Lawrence and Debby Hendershot each had a closing.
In our Napa office Melinda Capp, Maria Gema Rapolla and Ana Jauregui each had a closing.
In the Petaluma office, Joann Claeyssens and Paul Claeyssens had two closings each and Anne Marie Eskilsson had a closing.
In our Santa Rosa office: Jill Rake and Laurie Parris each had a closing.
In our Sebastopol office: Martha Saly had two closings and Parmeeta Ghoman, Liz Uribe, Sandra Matthews, Donald Fulkerson, Jeffrey Seligson, Frank Suma and William Cole each had a closing.
In our Sonoma office: Sheila Deignan had a Wine Country Group leading five closings, Carl MacPetrie had two closings and Mari Johnson and Erick Rothfeld each had a closing.
And, in our St. Helena office: Liz Manfree, Linda Alioto, Rianne Pasquariello and David Barker enjoyed two closings each.
Congratulations to all