Coastal Sonoma Home Sales Report
[caption id="attachment_1717" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Bodega Harbour View on a not so Sunny Day"][/caption]The Sonoma Coast is truly one of the most magnificent places on earth. Every once in a while I catch a car ad on TV and I say--hey that is just north of Jenner. I guess the art directors for the advertising companies agree. The recent Tour of California saw the race emerge on the coast above Jenner and travel down Route 1 to Coleman Valley Road, where they made their way back inland (and uphill) to the finish. The unit sales in the coastal market are in the single digits, not including Sea Ranch to the north. So, the statistical value is week. The coastal market was very hot this last winter, which is one of the most beautiful seasons on the coast. We can be socked in with tule fog inland and it will be bright and sunny out in Bodega Bay, as I discovered last winter when I was showing property from Dillon Beach to Gualala. Even with the small sample size, the behavior of the real estate market in coastal Sonoma this winter was an early clue to the heat of the overall Sonoma County real estate market this spring. Same message, rising sales and declining inventory. Coastal Sonoma Home Sales Report...
Petaluma and Penngrove Home Sales Report
Petaluma is one of the larger towns in Sonoma County, and it is bordered by Penngrove on the northeast corner. This area is closest to Marin County to the south and the commute locations of the Bay Area, so it tends to be more influenced by those factors and a bit more expensive than the rest of the corridor along highway 101 going north further in to Sonoma County. It is no surprise that home inventorys are down 39 percent from April 2010, and that there are only 1.9 months supply of homes for sale at the current rate. Here are the sales reports for the last two years for Petaluma (east and west) and Penngrove. Petaluma and Penngrove Home Sales Report...
April 30, 2012 Sonoma County Real Estate Stats Show Increasing Demand and Very Low Inventory of Homes for Sale
Increasing demand and shrinking supply in homes, ranches and condos in Sonoma County. Something's gotta give. Take a look at the latest real estate market statistics and see for yourself what is happening in the real estate market....
Wine Country and Bicycles
Thank you to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat for this photo. Click on it and you can see a nice slideshow of yesterday's Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California with Captions that identify the various spots in West Sonoma County on the 118 mile route. One of the commentators yesterday stated that the route competed with some of the best in the grand European cycling tours for scenic beauty and complexity. Tomorrow we will be back to our regular real estate programming, even as the Tour continues throughout California, working it's way down to LA. Stay tuned and here how the real estate market is red hot! [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="800" caption="Wine Country and Bicycles Amgen Tour of California Peleton along Occidental Road in Sonoma County Stage 1"][/caption]...
Amgen Tour of California Winding its Way through Santa Rosa and Sonoma's West County Today!
I have been having fun today following the progress of the breakaway group and peleton on Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California . A bunch of us from the block were able to walk to the corner and watch the tour go by this morning! Big stuff for a sleepy country neighborhood! You can keep up with their progress on an app which is handy because it shows it on the map in real time. It is a big deal in Santa Rosa this week but the riders are travelling through a big chunk of West County from Windsor, Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Occidental, Monte Rio, Cazadero, down the Sonoma Coast and back over Coleman Valley Road to Occidental and finishing later today in downtown Santa Rosa! There are some pretty steep but short climbs in Cazadero on King Ridge and then heading down to Highway 1. One of the most spectacularly beautiful roads anywhere in the world is Coleman Valley Road coming up from the coast highway back in to Occidental. Truly amazing coastal views and then you climb back up in to the redwoods! Besides redwoods, some of the commentators on the app have suggested the riders stop at the numerous Russian River Wineries they are passing, but as far as I know they are saving that for later! I'l have some video later but this picture of some of my neighbors will have to do for now! [caption id="attachment_1525" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Watching the Amgen Tour of California Stage 1 in West Sonoma County May 13, 2012"][/caption]...
Home Sales Report for the town of Sonoma and the Valley of the Moon
The town of Sonoma has long had the most cachet in Sonoma County, although Healdsburg is coming fast. This sales report looks at the whole Valley of the Moon, including Glen Ellen and Kenwood as well as Sonoma town. There is a bit more sales volume here, but the sample size is somewhat small, while bigger than both Sebastopol and Healdsburg. Like the other towns, median sales prices can be impacted by outlier high end home and ranch sales, so beware of drawing too many conclusions. Bottom line, inventory is shrinking and sales are up. The chart below shows newly pending sales that have not yet closed. As of the end of April newly pending sales were at the highest level in Sonoma of any month in the last two years, exceeding even the normally higher summer months for new sales. Inventory is at only 2.6 months supply, very low considering that Sonoma has a big mix of some very high end homes and ranches factored in to these figures. This are may have the highest percentage rate of sales of properties over a million dollars in Sonoma County. Sonoma Home Sales Report ...
Santa Rosa Home Sales Update: Only 1.3 Months Supply of Inventory Available, Down 60 Percent!
[caption id="attachment_1701" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Real Estate is Coming up Roses in Santa Rosa"][/caption]Santa Rosa is the big kahuna town in Sonoma County, so it's market stats for real estate will be a bit more true and resemble more of Sonoma County as a whole. Again, no surprise in the story here. Declining inventory. Two years ago, inventory was already low, but real estate sales were concentrated under $300,000 or so. Now the market is finally more active at all price points. In April 2010 there were only 3.2 months supply of inventory. Anything between four to six months is considered "balanced" between buyers and sellers. Fast forward to April 2012 and MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY is only 1.3, down a whopping SIXTY (60) PERCENT! I think if we only looked at homes priced under $500,000 we would find that there are only TWO WEEKS of inventory available, similar to some hot markets in the immediate Bay Area. Something's gotta give. Can you say "price increases"? haSanta Rosa Home Sales Report...
Healdsburg Homes and Ranches Market Update
[caption id="attachment_1693" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Pointing the way in a Westside Road garden in Healdsburg"][/caption]Healdsburg is one of the most desirable communities in Sonoma County and is fast becoming a desination for travellers and homebuyers from all over the globe. Much of Healdsburg's charm stems from the fact that it is a small town. Small town sales volume does not lend itself to great real estate stats since the sample size is so small. That is why I mostly look at sales and real estate market stats county wide. Nevertheless, once in a while we look at individual communities. By looking back at charts over a two year period you can see the seasonality of the numbers and get a little more of a feel for the market. Beware though. Healdsburg has seen some of the highest sales prices in the county (in the many millions) and also has some more typical lower entry level prices around $300,000. If you throw in a property that sells for many many millions of dollars one month in to the mix with only a few other homes and you will see wild fluctuations in median and average prices. That doesn't mean the price of your Healdsburg home has gone up fifty percent in a month as the slide on median sold prices indicates! Probably the most telling slide is the one that shows supply and demand. Inventory of homes for sale is down 34% over the last two years, and the number of sold properties is up 24%. Increasing demand, declining supply. Same story you see throughout Sonoma County. Healdsburg for its size has a higher percentage of expensive homes and ranches, and has had fewer distressed sales. Healdsburg Home Sales Report ...
A look at Sebastopol Area Home Sales April 2010 through April 2012
[caption id="attachment_1684" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Apple orchards give way to vineyard views in this typical Sebastopol country side scene off Burnside Road"][/caption]. Here is a look back at residential real estate sales in the Sebastopol area of Sonoma County, including Graton and Occidental, from April 2010 through April 2012. The reason I usually post county wide numbers is that it is easier to discern pricing and other trends on a month to month basis with the numbers for the county as a whole. You might be interested in just your town, so from time to time I will pull just the numbers for a specific locale, in this case the greater Sebastopol area. Though a small sample size makes it difficult to spot month to month trends, in general inventory is declining and sales activity rising, resulting in only 2.4 months supply of homes for sale in Sebastopol. Two years ago there were 4.6 months supply of inventory. Sales activity is strong but declined slightly (by one house--see what I mean?) in April 2012 compared to April 2010. Take a look through the reports and let me know if you have any questions! By the way, I archive these reports at a document sharing site called Scribd Sebastopol Home Sales Report...
Why Levi Leipheimer calls Santa Rosa Best Place in the World to Live: AMGEN Tour Starts here this Sunday May 13
anta Rosa flies under the radar compared to the more glamorous wine country towns of Healdsburg and Sonoma. This love letter to Santa Rosa by world class cyclist Levi Leipheimer makes me happy! Santa Rosa is the starting point for this year's seventh running of the Amgen Tour of California, on Sunday May 13....