Wine Country Real Estate Trends

Wine Country Group Results for June 2012 and 1st half year, 2012:

The Wine Country Group had 92 closings this June compared to 71 in June 2011.  Our dollar volume was $47 million compared to $27 million last year.  This is the highest number of closings that we have had in any June since our founding in 1996.  We did exceed this dollar volume in June 2005 when prices were much higher.  Our Sonoma and Santa Rosa offices each had 22 closings in June while the Sebastopol and Healdsburg offices each had 15 closings.  The Sonoma office led in dollar volume closed with nearly $15 million dollars in sales volume.  Our average closing sales price was $515,179 comparing to $383,601 a year ago, so that’s an improvement of 34% in average sales price.  Our escrow openings totaled 85 units compared to 63 last year and we had 41 new listings compared to 43 a year ago.  All indicators are of a strengthening market in the Wine Country.

For the first six months of 2012, The Wine Country Group had 498 closings compared to 432 in the same period a year ago.  Our dollar volume was up to $245 million from $187 million a year ago.  As with the month of June, this is the highest number of sales that we’ve had in the first six months of the year since 1996 and the dollar volume is only surpassed by the first six months of 2005.  We opened 522 new escrows during this period – also a record for our Group.  The average sales price of all of our closings for the first six months is $492,732.   This compares to $433,825 for the first six months of 2011, a 13.5% increase.

The Wine Country Group currently has 94 pending sales with a value of $45 million dollars.  We have 179 active listings with a value of $142 million dollars.  That’s an average listing price of $794,000 – up from an average of $730,000 a year ago.

The Wine Country Group currently enjoys number one market share (in either (or both) units and dollar volume) in our Cloverdale, Healdsburg, and Sebastopol markets.  We are the fourth largest real estate firm in Sonoma and Napa Counties based on the last twelve months of both units sold and dollar volume of sales.

June, 2012 – Wine Country Real Estate Market Analysis

Sonoma County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (1043) in Sonoma County at the end of June was 45% lower than last year (1,893 and slightly higher than the supply last month (1,035).  This continues the trend of a slight uptick in inventory that began last month.  New sales in June (657) were 22% ahead of the pace in June 2011 (538) and they were 13% lower than the pace of last month (759).  Closings for the month totaled 597 units.  This is the highest number of closed sales for any month since September 2005, seven years ago.  There is only a 1.6 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – a continuing indication of what we would normally call a strong “seller’s market”.  The median price of homes closed in June in Sonoma County was $335,000 and was 11% higher than the average price of homes sold a year ago.  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 14% of the available inventory (continuing to decrease).  The 143 distressed units available at the end of June was the lowest level for any month in the last five years.  39% of new sales and 40% of closings for the month were distressed properties.  There is only a one half months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the distressed homes sold in the month was $255,000, the same as a year ago.

Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (44) at the end of June 2012 was 34% below that of a year ago (67) and was 26% ahead of the inventory last month (35).  Sales for the month of June (16) were a bit lower than the pace of a year ago (19) and were equal to the new sales reported last month (17).  There is a 2.8 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales.  Only 14% of the inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 44% of the new sales and 45% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.

Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (94) in Healdsburg at the end of June was down 26% from that of last year (127) but it rose as it has for the past six months and is 9% ahead of that of last month (86).  New sales (27) were up 50% from the 18 new sales in June 2011 and were down 16% from the 32 sales last month.  There is a 3.5 months supply of inventory in Healdsburg based on the current sales pace.  Only 5% of the inventory in Healdsburg consists of “distressed properties” (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), but 15% of the new sales were distressed properties and 25% of the closings were distressed properties.  There is a 0.8 months supply of inventory based on the inventory and sales pace of distressed properties.  These are the lowest ratios of distressed properties in all of Wine Country.

Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (98) in Petaluma at the end of June was 53% lower than a year ago (208) and was 4% lower than the supply last month (102).  New sales in June (87) were 30% higher than that of the pace in June 2011 (67) and they were 16% lower than the pace of last month (103).  There is only a 1.1 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 17% of the available inventory, 32% of new sales and 36% of closings for the month.

Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (267) in Santa Rosa at the end of June was 58% lower than a year ago (635) and 9% lower than the supply last month (292).  Inventory has fallen for eleven straight months in Santa Rosa, and this is the lowest level of inventory in more than a decade.  New sales in June (274) were 17% ahead of the pace in June 2011 (234) and they were 12% lower than the pace of last month (312).  There is only a one months supply of available homes.  The median price of homes closed in June in Santa Rosa was $300,000 compared to $282,000 a year ago.  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 18% of the available inventory, 48% of new sales and 50% of closings for the month. There is only one half months supply of distressed properties available.

Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (80) in Sebastopol at the end of June was 34% lower than that of June 2011 (121) and it was slightly below that of last month (85).  There were 35 new sales for the month.  This is 59% ahead of the pace of a year ago (22) and slightly below the pace of the last month (42).  There is a 2.3 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  Distressed properties represent 11% of the inventory, 37% of the new sales for the month and 33% of the closings.  There is just 0.7 months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Sonoma Valley Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (157) at the end of June in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) was down 41% from the month of June 2011 (266).  It was equal to the inventory of a month ago (157). There were 59 new sales for the month.  This is 7% higher than that of a year ago (55) and it returned to a more normal pace after a record setting month last month.  There is currently a 2.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) in the Sonoma Valley in June represent 12% of the inventory, 27% of the new sales and 29% of the closings.  The impact of distressed sales on the market continues to decline and there is only a 1.2% months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Windsor Trends: The inventory of homes for sale in Windsor (37) at the end of June was 60% lower than the inventory (92) in June 2011 and was equal to the 36 units available last month.  This is the lowest inventory in Windsor since February 2005.  There were 39 new sales of homes and condominiums in Windsor in June, which is 22% higher than the 32 sales in June of 2011 and 17% lower than the sales last month (47).  There is just a one months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  24% of the available inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) while 54% of the new sales and 40% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.  There is only a .4% months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Napa County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale at the end of June in Napa County rose for the fourth straight month to 489 units.  This is 26% below the inventory (664) at this time last year and is 2% higher than the inventory in May (461).  New sales (180) were 35% ahead of the pace of a year ago (133) and 4% lower than the pace of last month (187).  There were 154 closings in Napa County in June.  The months of inventory available at the current sales pace is 2.7 months.  The median price of homes closed ($345,000) was 3% higher than the median price of a year ago ($335,000).  10% of the current listings in Napa County are distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure).  48% of the new sales and 47% of the closed sales for the month are distressed properties.  There is only a 0.5 months supply of distressed properties on the market based on the current sales pace.

The City of Napa figures generally mirror the County figures.  The inventory (278) is off 27% from a year ago (379).  New sales (123) are 40% ahead of a year ago (88) and 7% ahead of that of last month (115).  There is 2.3 months of available inventory at the current sales pace.  The median price for homes closed in Napa in the month of June was $352,000, 11% ahead of a year ago ($317,000) and ahead of the median prices over the past twelve months.  The City has similar ratios with regard to the impact of distressed properties on the market.  There is only a 0.6 months supply of distressed properties.

St. Helena/Up Valley Trends: The St. Helena/Up Valley market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville), inventory at the end of June increased for the fifth straight month.  The inventory was 175 units, down 16% from 208 a year ago and up 9% from last month (160).  There were 19 new sales in the month of June compared to 10 in June of last year and 25 last month.  The Up Valley market continues to show improvement.  Just 3% of the inventory consists of distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 42% (8) of the new sales for the month were distressed properties and 24% of the closed sales were distressed properties.

Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from June 1 to June 30, 2012:

In our Cloverdale office, Ron and Jane Pavelka had two closings.

In our Healdsburg office: Debbie Adler was busy with five closings;  Elissa Morrash, Patty Van Dern and Nicki Rector each had two closings;  and Mike Downes, Penelope La Montagne, Charlee Schanzer, Gina Cleaver, Susan Montgomery and Maria Avila each had a closing.

In our Napa office:  Tressa Anderson enjoyed two closings;  and Lark Raymond, Charlie Laughlin, Adam Ghisletta. Shawn Daee and Stacey Oftedal each had a closing.

In our Petaluma office:  John O’Keefe enjoyed two closings; and Vicki Metzger had a closing.

In our Santa Rosa offices:  The team of Lisa Combs and Alison Johnson and Carlos Rivas of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate enjoyed four closings each;  Jane Duggan and the team of Larry Tristano and Charles Himes enjoyed three closings;  Christen Hamilton had two closings;  and Donald Hamilton, Cheri Johnke, Tommy Apostiolides, Jill Rake, Mark Payne and Conrad Worthy each had a closing.

In our Sebastopol office:  Lori Sacco enjoyed three closings;  Lisa Dawson, Lori Allen and Sandy Mays had two closings each; and Bill Cole, Jeffrey Seligson, Francine Passalacqua, Pauline Pellini, Gloria Epperson, Laurie Parris, Eric Lucas, Kaye Henzerling and Liz Uribe and each had a closing.

In our Sonoma office:  Mike Caselli was busy with five closings;  Sheila Deignan, Diane Krause and Erin George had three closings each;  Rob Jones  and Mara Kahn each had two closings; and Joyce Davison, Frank Lazzarotto, Dan Gallagher, Barbara Sommerville, Joan Harrington and Diane Litchfield each had a closing.

And, in our St. Helena office:  Jeff Veness and Gina Papale White each had a closing for this period.

Congratulations to all!