Sebastopol Real Estate Supply has been (relatively) low for a long time
Sebastopol, like Healdsburg, is one of the strongest markets in Sonoma County real estate. The number of units sold per month over the last two years ranged from a low of 6 units in December 2007 to recent highs of 26 units with sales generally in the teens and twenties. A bit bigger supply then Healdsburg but not much. Over the last two years the median price did not see the wide swings that Healdsburg did (Healdsburg has more outlier properties for sale well into the $3 to $6 million range). Sebastopol median price was $824,000 in October 2007 and is $575,000 today. Overall the median price decline was 30%, but I think it has been more affected by the preponderance of sales at the lower price points and on small to no acreage. Market values have declined somewhat but many sellers were able to withdraw their more expensive homes for sale. The market for those appears to be picking up. The median price hit a low of $475,000 in February of this year, as elsewhere in the county. Interestingly, Sebastopol had only 5 months of inventory for sale in October 2007, trended above 7 for a few months and is now at 3.8 months supply. Inventory never really got too out of hand. [caption id="attachment_595" align="alignleft" width="450" caption="Sebastopol Home Resale Inventory Shrinking"][/caption]...
Healdsburg Real Estate Inventory Trends
Here is the next in my series looking at market conditions for various communities in Sonoma County. Healdsburg real estate represents a small sample size with monthly sales ranging from 2 units to 24 units and median price ranging from $352,000 to over $3,000,000 on any give month over the last two years, with several months in which the median price was just over a million. So take this with a little grain of salt. Nonetheless, inventory never really spiked for long, sales are on the upswing, median price is down 27% since October 2007. Month's supply of inventory moved downward from 14 months in October 2007 to 6 months today, a balanced market, probably reflecting the amount of high priced inventory on the market here. MSI peaked at 25 months in February 2008. [caption id="attachment_589" align="alignleft" width="450" caption="Portrait of a more balanced market for Healdsburg Real Estate"][/caption]...
Santa Rosa Real Estate Inventory Trends
I have been writing a lot lately about Month's Supply of Inventory as it relates the national and California real estate markets to the Sonoma County real estate market. Inventory here is much lower then either nationally or statewide, putting Sonoma County in a real seller's market, primarily at the lower price points but we are also seeing a lot more movement of mid-priced and upper end properties over a million dollars. That price point was dead much of this year. I thought I would do a series of quick snapshots of inventory supply in each of the major Sonoma County MLS regions so we could see the variation within the county. Some of these have small sample sizes but I think they are big enough to spot trends. If you asked me about 3 bedroom homes on quarter acre lots in Northeast Santa Rosa, we might not have a big enough sample to be meaningful, but you can try me. If you would like more detailed information about your community's sales trends, please email or phone me and I will send you more detailed reports. Santa Rosa is the largest area in the county, spanning four different quadrants: NE, SE, SW and NW. I could pull reports for each one and I suspect we would find some good variation but let's start here. The median price of single family homes (including condominiums and farms and ranches) is down 33% from October 2007 when it was $450,000. The low was reached in February of 2009 at $250,000. It is currently just over $300,000 for the first time since September 2008. Months supply of inventory is only TWO MONTHS, down from a peak of 16 in both October and December 2007. Anything under 5-7 months is considered a seller's market. [caption id="attachment_582" align="alignleft" width="450" caption="Months Supply of Housing Inventory Shrinking in Santa Rosa, CA"][/caption]...
Why it may be a good time to sell your mid-priced home in Sonoma County
Certainly there is expected to be a new wave in the spring of foreclosure properties but right now there is very little inventory of homes for sale in Sonoma County between $450,000 and $550,000. And there are great bargains to be had in country property or slightly more expensive homes. In every market, there are opportunities, you just need to be aware of the current trends and be opportunistic! Granted you are not going to sell your home for what it would have fetched 2 or 3 years ago, but neither will you pay what you would have on the other end....
Only 2.2 Months Supply of Housing Inventory, Really?
Sonoma County housing inventory for sale is very low--but just how much can you read into it?...
Only half the Sonoma County homes for sale this year compared to last
Month's Supply of Inventory (MSI) is down sharply from last year. Sales of existing single family homes fell slightly last quarter as first time buyers and investors busily snatched up entry level homes price under $350,000. At the present moment, November 2, 2009, there are only 1190 homes for sale Unit sales are down also, from priced under $500,000 county wide, versus 2,458 at the end of October 2008, meaning there are only 2.8 months of inventory supply if sales continue at their current rate. Anything under a five to seven months supply is considered to be a sellers market. Inventory is in very short supply and sales seem to be increasing even moving up to the higher price points. Please call or email me if you would like to sell your home. If you have been hesitating to sell your home because of the market, conditions may be more favorable than you think. ...
All the Real Estate Market Stats you Can Eat
Some new web tools enable me to provide up to the minute sales trends for real estate in Sonoma County in a more thorough and clear fashion, for those who are interested in such things. The data is based upon actual sales information reported by the BAREIS (Bay Area Real Estate Information Services) MLS, or multiple listing service....
Sonoma County Real Estate Sales Update
Year over year the median Sonoma County home price dropped 5% to $359,000. However, the apparent bottom for this market (whether a V, U or W is yet to be determined) was in February when the median price was #315,000. Some of my smart buyer clients (you know who you are) are happily ensconced in homes they bought in January and February, sensing the (a?) bottom had arrived....
Sonoma County Real Estate Market Half-Time Report
The long days and sunny weather have taken me away from my computer--sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have a new iPhone (fun and without a doubt best new productivity tool in a long time--probably since my first Palm Pilot in 1996). I am available by phone or email or Twitter, Facebook, etc. if you have an immediate question, please feel free to contact me. And thanks to those of you who already have! We are in the thick of a hot summer market here in Sonoma County. Buyers have been coming back into our market in increasing numbers since late last year. Now, nearly every property sold under $400,000 has multiple offers. First time buyers or conventional buyers with ten or twenty percent down should expect to have to write offers on multiple properties before they get "the one". There is only 2-4 months supply of inventory available at the current rate of sales (at price points under a million dollars). What about the new wave of "shadow" inventory of foreclosure properties being held back from the market by the bank? At this point, it would appear that the market of existing buyers (both first time buyers and investors) will absorb it fairly readily....
Where the action is in Sonoma County Real Estate
Brokermetrics, a real estate data analysis service provided by Terradatum, is currently beta-testing a new tool for analyzing real estate sales trends by price range. This is really welcome as far as I am concerned because our market is so hot at the low end (under $400,000) and so slow at higher price points that it is really difficult to make sense of market stats country wide for all price ranges. It takes a lot of slicing and dicing to confirm what most of us already know, that mid and upper price range properties are moving much more slowly than entry level homes being snatched up by first time buyers and investors. So here is a look at the new Brokermetrics graph. I know you really need your microscope to read these images, so don't forget to click on them so you can go to a larger version than fits in my middle column here. ...