Wine Country Real Estate Trends in September 2014

Napa Earthquake – As most of you reading this know, the largest earthquake in California in the past 25 years struck near the City of Napa on August 25 (see: http://news.msn.com/us/strong-california-quake-causes-injuries-damage).  Our office in downtown Napa is in a historic stone building that was seismically reinforced a number of years ago.  The structure held up fine, but mortar between the stones and glass dividing panels fell to the ground creating a real mess.  Some of our agents (including our Napa Valley manager Lynda Jensen) suffered damage to their homes and everyone in the general area – into Sonoma – were quite “shaken” by the experience.   We are fortunate that the earthquake occurred on a Sunday morning at 3:00 AM.  If people had been working in the office, and in other parts of downtown Napa, during the earthquake, the injuries would have been substantial.

In an unrelated accident a day before the earthquake, our Napa Office Administrator, Debbie Murray, was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.  We are all hoping for Debbie’s quick return to the office.

Wine Country Group Results for August 2014:

The Wine Country Group had 70 closings in August 2014 compared to 101 a year ago and 75 last month.  In August, we closed homes with a total value of $47.8 million compared to $46.4 million a year ago and $50.7 last month. The average selling price of the properties sold by the Wine Country Group in August was $682,315 compared to $459,567 a year ago and $676,442 a year ago.  This is the highest average price that we have had in August since 2007.  The Sonoma office led this month with 17.5 closings while the Santa Rosa office had 12 closings and the Healdsburg and Napa offices had nine each.  The Sonoma office also led in dollar volume with $14.1 million in sales while the Healdsburg office had $8.2 million and the Santa Rosa office had $8.1 million.

The Wine Country Group opened 97 new escrows for the month compared to 93 a year ago and 96 last month.  The Group had 31 new listings compared to 28 in August 2013 and 42 last month.  We currently have 100 pending sales with a value of $69 million dollars.  We have 137 active listings with a value of $133 million dollars. Our average listing price is $973,000 – up 4% from an average of $936,000 a year ago.

Wine Country Real Estate results and trends for August 2014:

Sonoma County: The inventory of single-family homes and condominiums for sale in Sonoma County at the end of August stood at 995 compared to 997 last month and 930 a year ago.  This is a 7% increase on a year over year basis.  Inventory seems to have plateaued this month and it is reasonable to expect it to continue to moderate going into fall and winter.  New sales (548) in August were 15% ahead of that of last August (476) and were about equal to that of last month (537).  New sales have sustained a healthy level pace in this range over the past four months.  Inventory has increased 73% and the new sales pace has increased 99% since December. There is just a 1.8 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 59 days compared to 67 a year ago.  The median price of homes closed in August in Sonoma County was $457,000.  This is a 9% increase over the median price in August 2013 ($420,000).   Prices continue to stabilize year over 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: 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 28% increase in the number of Luxury Homes closed (477) from 9/1/13 to 8/31/14 compared to 372 from 9/1/12 to 8/31/13.  There were 264 luxury properties in inventory at the end of August compared to 254 last month and 267 a year ago.  Days on Market for closed Luxury sales dropped from 120 days last year to 94 days this year.

Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (39) at the end of August 2014 was 9% below that of a year ago (43) and was 20% below the inventory last month (49).  Part of the reason for the lower inventory was a jump in new sales to 26 in August compared to 17 last month and 15 in August 2013.  This is the highest number of new sales in Cloverdale for any month since April of 2010.  There is just a 1.5 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales.

Coastal Sonoma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Coastal Sonoma (Bodega Bay, Jenner and Stewart’s Point) at the end of August (38) was the same as last month (37) and was 6% ahead of the inventory a year ago (36).  There were 7 new home sales for the month of August compared to 5 a year ago and 7 last month. There is a 5.4 months supply of available inventory in the Coastal Sonoma market based on the current pace of new sales. The Days on Market of the 6 homes that closed in August was a 84 days compared to 124 days a year ago and 191 days last month.

Healdsburg Trends: There were 82 homes and condominiums available in Healdsburg at the end of August compared to 69 last August and 75 in July.  There were 15 new sales for the month.  This is 28% behind the pace in August 2013 (21) and is 17% below the pace last month (18).  The market remains sluggish in Healdsburg.  The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace fell to 5.5 months.   The Days on Market for the 18 homes closed in August was 101 days compared to 90 days a year ago and 58 days last month – so, some of the older inventory moved in August.

Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (92) in Petaluma at the end of August was 11% ahead of last month (83) and it was 15% ahead of the inventory in August 2013 (80).  This is the highest level of inventory in Petaluma in the past two years.  New sales in August (78) were 18% ahead of the pace of last month (66) and 16% ahead of the 67 new sales in August 2013.  There is just a 1.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the 63 homes that closed in August was $548,000.  This is 15% ahead of the median last August ($475,000).  Days on market for the closed sales for the month was 56 compared to 58 days a year ago.

Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Santa Rosa at the end of August (317) was 14% higher than a year ago (277) and was slightly below the inventory last month (321).  New sales in August (220) were 21% ahead of the pace in August 2013 (182) and they were 4% ahead of the pace of last month (211).  There is only a 1.4 months supply of available homes in Santa Rosa based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the 183 homes closed in August in Santa Rosa was $440,000 compared to $390,000 a year ago – a 13% increase.  The Days on Market for the homes closed in August was 57 days compared to 59 days a year ago.

Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (46) in Sebastopol at the end of August was 22% lower than that of August 2013 (59). It was 16% below that of last month (55).  Sebastopol is one of the few Wine Country communities with lower inventory on a year over year and month over month basis.  There were 27 new sales for the month of August.  This is 21% below the pace in August 2013 (34) and 21% below the pace of the 38 last month.  There is a 1.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The Days on Market of the 33 closed homes in Sebastopol in August was 56 days compared to 81 days a year ago.

Sonoma Valley: The number of available homes and condominiums for sale (110) in August in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) fell for the third straight month.  It was 19% below the level of last August (136) and was 18.5% below that of last month (135).  There were just 27 new listings for the month when we have been averaging 70 to 80 per month since March.  Over 45% – 50 properties of the 110 available – have asking prices in excess of $1,000,000.  There were 54 new sales for the month.  This is 59% ahead of the pace of sales in August 2013 (34) when we had a surprising light number of sales.  It is 12.5% ahead of the pace last month (48).  There is a two months supply of inventory in Sonoma based on the current pace of sales.  The Days on Market for the 42 closed sales in Sonoma in August was 56 days compared to 75 a year ago and 75 last month.

Windsor: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (45) in Windsor at the end of August increased slightly from the 43 homes last month and was 12.5% ahead of the 40 homes in August 2013.  Inventory has increased from just 20 homes in April to 45 at the end of August.  New sales in Windsor in August (30) were slightly below the sales in August 2013 (34) and were 25% ahead of the 24 sales last month.  There is just a 1.5 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the 22 sales that closed in August in Windsor was $455,000.   This is 6% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($429,000).

Napa County: The inventory of homes and condominiums available for sale continued to move ahead for the seventh straight month in Napa County in August.  The inventory (450) is 3% higher than it was in August 2013 (437) and also 3% higher than last month (437).  New sales (128) were 8% lower than the pace last year (139) and 21% ahead of the pace last month (106).  There is a 3.5 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The “Days on Market” for the 88 homes closed in August was 72 days compared to 85 days a year ago.  The median price of homes closed in August in Napa County ($503,000) moderated from the $557,000 level last month and was less than 1% ahead of the median price of a year ago ($503,000).  The current median price remains 25% below the peak median price for the County ($675,000) recorded in June 2006.

Napa County Luxury Homes: Sales of Luxury Homes  (sales price in excess of $900,000) in Napa County have increased 21% for the period 9/1/13 to 8/31/14 (246) compared to 9/1/12 to 8/31/13 (203).  There were 205 luxury homes in inventory at the end of August 2014 compared to 195 at the end of August 2013.  41% of all of the homes listed for sale in Napa County at the end of August had asking prices in excess of $900,000.  There were 24 new Luxury Home sales in August 2014 compared to 14 in August 2013 and 27 last month.  There is a 8.5 months supply of available Luxury Homes based on the current sales pace compared to 13.9 months supply last year.  The Days on Market for the 18 closings of Luxury Homes in August was 100 days compared to 105 days a year ago.

Napa: There were 252 available homes and condominiums in inventory at the end of August in the City of Napa.  This is 10% higher than the inventory a year ago (229) and it is 4% above the supply last month (243).  Inventory has risen for eight straight months in Napa from a low of 153 homes in December 2013.  New sales (87) were 6.5% behind the pace of August 2013 (93) and they were 34% ahead of the pace of last month (65).  There is a 2.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  The “Days on Market” for the 49 homes closed in August in the City of Napa was 60 days compared to 87 days in August 2013.  The median price of the homes that closed in Napa in August was $485,000.  This is 5% below the median price in August 2013 ($510,000).  The median price in August remains 25% below the peak median price in the City of Napa ($650,000) recorded in August 2006.

Up Valley: Listings held steady compared to last month in the Up Valley Napa County market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville).  The inventory was 146 homes at the end of August 2014 compared to 148 last month.  Inventory was 14% below the level of 170 in August 2013.  There were 29 new sales for the month compared to 28 last month and 24 a year ago – so the sales pace remains steady also.  With this sales pace there is a five months supply of inventory compared to 7.1 months a year ago.  The “Days on Market” for the 28 closings last month was 100 days compared to 89 days in August a year ago and 72 days for the County as a whole.  The Up Valley market continues to be a healthy market.

Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from August 1 to August 31, 2014:

In our Bodega Bay office:  Barbara and Paul Cronick had two closings.

In our Cloverdale office:  Ron and Jane Pavelka enjoyed five closings.

In our Healdsburg office:  Diane Harris and Dee Grohmann had two closings each and Judy Csimma, Jose Hernandez, Kent Mitchell, Elissa Morrash and Judy Todd each had a closing.

In our Napa office:  Jane Barker enjoyed three closings;  Adam Ghisletta had two closings and Nick Simone, Kelly Brophy, Jon Dudding and Shawn Daee each had a closing.

In our Petaluma office:  Paul Claeyssens, JoAnn Claeyssens and Lisa Gartman each had a closing.

In our Santa Rosa office:  Mark Payne had two closings and Carlos Rivas and Beth Sirks of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate shared a closing, and Tommy Apostolides, Charles Himes, Lindsay Ehrlicher, Christen Hamilton, Jill Rake, Amy Leyack, Don Jaramillo and Ryan Styles each had a closing.

In our Sebastopol office:  Jeff Seligson had two closings;  William Cole and Michaela Kalemba shared a closing and Lori Allen, Rikki Barron and Norbert Tenenbaum each had a closing.

In our Sonoma office:  Patti Marken enjoyed four closings;  Sheila Deignan had three closings;  Erin George, Patty Keiser and Diane Krause each had two closings and Mara Kahn, Tiffany Knef, Mari Johnson, Leo Merle, Mary Chelton and Erick Rothfeld each had a closing.

And, in our St. Helena office:  Linda Alioto enjoyed four closings;  Liz Manfree had two closings and Jeff Veness had a closing.

Congratulations to all