What Holiday Break? January 2012 Sonoma County Real Estate Market Off to a Fast Start
Here I sit on New Year's eve weekend--in the sunshine out by the pool writing some blog posts for the new year. What was going to be a sleepy quiet week between Christmas and New Year's has been anything but! I have written two offers this week and have two new listings coming on the market in the next couple of weeks. Am also getting good activity on some other listings! What gives? Normally this is a pretty quiet time of year in the real estate market but activity has barely taken a breath for the holidays! I am not complaining, not by any means. I think it is a good sign that the market is so active. Other agents I know are very busy, home inspectors are booked solid and there is a decided hint of optimism in the air. Now I realize that there are lots of challenges and difficulties in our economy and the real estate world. About 30% of homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. We are not heading in to a dramatic turnaround anytime soon. By the same token though buyers don't seem to be waiting on the sidelines and sellers with equity also have decided to get back on the playing field. With interest rates ridiculously low, this bodes for a busy January. Welcome to 2012! We will be back this week with a more detailed look at the market for real estate in Sonoma County. Until then, Happy New Year!...
Newly Pending Home Sales in Sonoma County up 65% Year over Year October 2011 vs. 2010
Home sales statistics can be an interesting way to understand the timing of a home sale or purchase in Sonoma County, but sometimes it helps to go back a few years to be able to discern trends. Pam Buda, DRE 01381495, takes a look at current market data from a few different angles....
First Quarter Reflections: 2011 Off to a Fast Start but Challenges Remain
Since the first Monday morning after New Year's Day, the Sonoma County real estate market has been incredibly active with some of the highest rates of pending sales in the last several years. Most realtors I know have been very encouraged by all the activity, particularly after activity in late 2010 ground to a near halt for most agents. But many challenges and obstacles remain, and MANY opportunities exist in this market as well. We will continue to delve into these in more detail over the coming months but for now, here are some of the high points. The median sales price in the county has declined over the last several months. What this generally means is not necessarily that values of individual properties have declined so much, although I think there has been some softening. What it means is that the action this last winter was in the low end of the market--that is homes under $350,000. Our market is currently dominated by first time buyers, investors and, to a lesser degree, second-home/retirement buyers. First time buyers are often FHA buyers with as little as 3.5% down. FHA allows these buyers to receive down payment assistance--either gifts from family members or government-sponsored down payment assistance programs such as CHAFA. (News Flash: CHAFA in California is currently on hold due to a funding shortfall.) Real Estate Investors are out in force both in Sonoma County and nationwide. Bargain-basement pricing, interest rates in the fives and a strong rental market are attracting investors in record numbers. Previously high prices kept investors out of our markets for years. Many investors are buying homes to hold and rent. With 25% down, you can buy a rental and pay interest in the low 5's. Homes that cost $200,000 to $300,000 can cash flow today. Someday we will have appreciation again and you can add that to the tax benefits and cash flow of the current rental market. (Talk to your tax advisor about how a rental property can benefit you, and talk to me if you would like me to run some numbers for you.) Other investors are buying to renovate and flip. I have seem some great flip jobs and some bad ones, but for the most part I think these investors are doing a service in renovating some of the really troubled real estate inventory...
2010 Sonoma County Real Estate Year in Review
Sonoma County Homes Sales Trends for 2010 don't offer any major new insights, just further evidence of some price stabilization at the lower end with continued softness in the mid and upper price ranges. Links to sales data for 2010 from Pam Buda, Sonoma County Realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate....
25% Home Sales Drop in Sonoma County this October
A winter chill seemed to come early to Sonoma County's real estate market. Sales were at their lowest level for October since 2007. Sales also dropped from September of 2010, which makes me wonder if the news of robo-signing of foreclosure documents just put a huge wet blanket on already skittish buyers. Inventory was up only slightly, and newly pending sales maintained a very good pace, belying the drop in closed sales. It is possible that all the concern about the possible risk of buying foreclosed properties put a damper on sales. In that case short sales might be marginally more attractive to buyers. (Editor's Comment: it is hard to make a short sale (they are anything but short) attractive to a potential buyer, but if it is the only game in town then I guess they look better, more about that in another post.) The median home price dropped about 9% to $342,500. It has been bouncing around in the mid-$300,000 range for over a year. I have been tracking home sales on this blog since mid-2007. This is the first big (non seasonal) drop in sales volume since late 2008. One month does not a trend make however. It will be interesting to see if is a temporary reaction to the headlines, or represents a more sustained trend. What does this mean for you if you are a Buyer? If your income situation is stable (a big if for a lot of people), then this winter could present an excellent buying opportunity. Rates have dropped even since the summer to a decades low. Bottom line if you are a buyer now and the numbers work for you, this may be a great chance to buy with less competition at very low cost. If you are a Seller? Without a doubt the drop in sales has got to give you pause if you are a seller. However, to whatever degree there is uncertainty about foreclosure inventory, your "normal" home is going to look a lot more attractive, but not if you overprice it. I can think of any number of "normal" homes that are not priced in line with the competition and are just sitting, getting stale. If you are considering selling within the next two to three years, then you will want to be aggressive and pro-active about how you approach your sale,...
Sonoma County homes sales drop 21 percent in July – Pending Sales Up to Two Year High
This week, the Press Democrat newspaper confirmed the analysis of Sonoma County home sales reported here a couple of weeks ago, proof yet again that a local blogger can more nimbly provide the latest hard core real estate data. My reports are based upon the exact same data the Press Democrat is getting. ;) The headline featured July's drop in CLOSED home sales. If you read through the article, however, you will also learn that pending sales (newly ratified purchase contracts) are up to a two year high in July, indicating that sales activity is still strong, and has rebounded after the expiration of the $8,000 Federal Homebuyer's Tax Credit April 30, 2010. While not all the pending sales will come to a succesful conclusion, it is still a good leading indicator of market activity. Just a reminder that if you are looking for the latest Sonoma County home sales data, you can sign up for an email subscription to my blog, or check here the first week of every month to see the latest real estate sales trends analyzed here. For an archive of previous months' data, check out my Scribd Account. If you are wondering, Scribd is an online repository for sharing of documents with social media components. It is to documents what Flickr is to photos. ...
Sonoma County Home Sales Resume Pace 2 Months after Tax Credit Expiration
A look at the latest real estate sales trends for Sonoma County, based on sales figures through July 2010. The market is somewhat stabilized, with a greater diversity of properties for sale from "regular" folks, and less of a reliance on distressed properties. Newly pending sales through July matched the high rate of sales from April 2010, when the federal tax credit was about to expire....
Distressed Properties Continue to Account for Vast Majority of Sonoma County Home Sales
The first quarter home sales figures are now available and we will take a more in-depth at them later this week, but I thought I would point out this article in today's Press Democrat newspaper, which reported the latest home sales figures as presented at the Santa Rosa Realtor's breakfast this morning by Rick Laws of Coldwell Banker. Rick uses data from the Bay Area Real Estate Information Services Multiple Listings, which is the same source I use for the reports I produce every month. (NOTE: Until this data was available to me, Rick kindly shared it with me every months when he was my broker at Coldwell Banker. We like to geek out on this data in an attempt to understand market trends ahead of the curve. Thanks Rick!) Rick took a look at the percentage of distressed property (euphemistically called "bank-influenced") sales, which refer to short sales and REO's or foreclosed properties. The data show at price ranges up to $1 Million, that the percentage that distressed properties make in the market is still very high, but declining as compared to the market bottom of Q1 2009. That is probably because buyers are coming out of the woodwork at the mid and upper ranges, and also because "normal" sellers (that is how agents refer to them in MLS comments!) have probably realized that now is as good a time as any to sell, that prices may have stabilized and we are not likely to see significant appreciation for some time. Also, they may realize it is good to sell when rates are down and buyer tax credits are in place. Inventory continues to be VERY tight and sales are up significantly. It is also interesting to note that distressed sales now make up 17% of sales above $ 1 million dollars, where as there were no distressed sales at that price range a year ago. There were also very few sales over a million a year ago! Stay tuned for more later this week and feel free to call me or email with your questions or comments. Bank "Influenced" Sales as a Percentage of Total Sales Condominiums ...
U.S. Home Sales Rose Sharply in February
Last month I posted the startlingly high "PENDING SALES" figure for the short, rainy month of February, in which the highest number of pending sales was recorded for the last two years. Today the national press reported that nationwide, pending sales rose sharply throughout the US. The interpretation is that the soon to expire Federal Tax Credit of $8,000 for first-time and $6,500 for existing home owner tax credits were promoting the increased buyer activity. Interestingly, the article reported that strong sales in the Midwest lead the charge, and that sales have declined in the Western States. As yet further proof that all real estate news is local, the numbers of pending Sonoma County home sales bucked the Western states trend. (Wait till you see the March numbers, coming soon!) ...
The Number of Pending Sonoma County Home Sales Reaches Two Year High
Escrows were opened in February for 557 homes in Sonoma County, Northern California, the highest rate of home buying activity in at least two years, bringing the available supply of homes for sale to a two year low. For a typically quiet, short winter month this may indicate the continued impact of the home buyer tax credits and low interest rates....