Mid-range Sonoma County property sales AND inventory trend down
Unlike the entry level where inventory keeps growing, and sales are also up sharply this last January, properties priced from $500,000 to $750,000, what is our lower mid-range, are showing declining sales, but also declining inventory at nearly the same rate.  Buyers at this price range are entering jumbo loan territory, and sellers who don't have to absolutely sell may be taking themselves out of the market. ...
Housing Inventory Supply and Demand Varies by Price Point
OK, back to more serious stuff. Not surprisingly the supply and demand dynamics for Sonoma County real estate vary greatly at various price levels indicating different forces at work. The next few posts will look at different price ranges and the number of ratified sales (escrows opened) versus the number of new listings.   My broker, Rick Laws, compiles a detailed view of market statistics on a monthly basis which is shared with the Press Democrat newspaper. Once a month I receive about 20 or 30 reports looking at homes, properties over $1 million dollars, and condominium sales throughout Sonoma County. These are pulled from sales data from the BAREIS MLS for Sonoma County and supplied via Brokermetrics.  When I need data for a particular area or type of property I can drill down deeper in Brokermetrics but the monthly standard reports give a good statistical overview of the county as a whole.  While we are "in the market" everyday and like to think we can sense trends as they emerge, it helps to have the data to confirm your senses. The benefit being that it helps us to hopefully deduce some trends for our buyer and seller clients so that we can come up with the best strategy for their real estate needs.  The low end of our market (under $500,000) is flooded with inventory compared to two years ago. A year ago new listings were steadily trending upward and buyer activity was nearly level. However, the number of ratified sales in January (sales that should close in February or March) is up significantly by nearly 50%, an encouraging sign and evidence of the increased buyer activity post holiday and Super Bowl.  The question is how far up will that inventory rise, and will the buyer bump up trend continue so that the lines level out or converge, rather than trend apart as they have in the recent past? ...
Wine Country and Ducks
Last night I heard some raucous quacking in several short bursts. I sleepily wondered if the duck couple that naps by my pool every spring had returned for their sojourn again--one of those wonderful seasonal evidences of the rhythms of the countryside.  As I stepped off a conference call this morning to refill my coffee, sure enough, there they were.  Their nest is nearby and every morning they come for a bath and a snooze on the warm concrete pool deck. The Papera vineyard is behind the house, 17 acres of old vine zinfandel planted by Charley Papera in 1934, still going strong.  Makes great zin, by the way!  Charley used to own much of this street if not all. It was pasture for cattle and still throws up some good oat hay. Nice to see the sunshining and the days getting longer. Not a bad place to be a duck (or a person). ...
Where to dine in Sonoma County
I guess because it is lunchtime and I am hungry that I am reminded how much I enjoy Heather Irwin's Press Democrat blog, Bite Club, for the latest Sonoma County foodie news, restaurant gossip and reviews. Plus fantastic archives that make it easy to find, let's say, the best chile rellenos in Santa Rosa. Hmmm...
Heard on the Grapevine
Up and coming cool Sonoma County country property listings: West Sebastopol  1 acre 3/2 house in scenic area $759,000 end of Feb Prime close-in country location near downtown Sebastopol  $825,000 "ish" 3/2 1/5+- acres coveted end of lane location Prime wine country home and 3.5 acres surrounded by vineyards and horse properties. Now set up for horses, eminently plantable to Russian River pinot noir or Syrah or? Pool, 4BR, 2BA. Lovely views and fabulous bucolic setting on a quiet lane. Price TBD. South Sebastopol mini-farm with horse setup, house and granny, in the $800's. Coming end of February. Healdsburg 2 useable acres in prime end of lane location surrounded by larger parcels, lovely views, modest 2BR comfy home. $850,000 ish. Later this spring. Call or email me to check on these or other upcoming properties in Sonoma county,...
Wild Stage 1 of Amgen Tour of California finish in Santa Rosa today
Juan Jose Haedo of Team CSC repeated his 2006 Stage 1 victory in this the 3rd running of the Amgen tour of California, and the 3rd year that the race has had a stage finish and start in downtown Santa Rosa.  It was an exciting finish including a crash in Railroad Square by then-leader George Hincapie as well as a big lead change in Occidental near the end of the nearly 100 mile race today. Tomorrow Stage 2 will run from Santa Rosa to Sacramento.  For up to the minute coverage of the Tour of California, the Press Democrat is running a special on-line section. Santa Rosa's own Levi Leipheimer exhorted the crowd at the finish to join his website, www.letleviride.com  to fight the disqualification of his new team Astana's in the 2008 Tour de France. "On February 13th, the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) barred Team Astana from competing in any race or event organized by the ASO in 2008. The ASO owns premiere cycling events like Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Tours, and the famed Tour de France. The ASO cited the doping scandals of last year’s Tour de France as justification. There can be no comparison between the Astana team of 2007 and the new Astana. The entire organizational structure has been rebuilt under the direction of the team’s new General Manager, Johan Bruyneel, who has thoroughly cleaned house. What’s more, Astana has adopted the rigorous doping controls developed by anti-doping expert Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard, and Astana now spends more money on anti-doping controls than any other team in the pro peloton." The Amgen Tour of California brings a lot of excitement to Sonoma county. 30,000 people attended the wild finish dowtown Santa Rosa today. For some excellent photos of today's tours, and other links, head to Spare Cycles....
Bay Area Real Estate Buyers out in force as the sun shines
Well they have been out in force even in the rain, but it is sure a lot more fun to look at property when the sun is shining. Our local Coldwell Banker Santa Rosa office had 23 open escrows last week which is a noticeable post-Super Bowl bump perhaps.  In a "normal" market we average 20-30 escrows a week opened but December and January were down under 20 for the most part. Marian Bennett in Coastal San Mateo county notes a similar trend in a recent post: "They came from the Frenchman’s Creek neighborhood, Fremont, San Francisco, Sonoma, even southern California…tired of waiting for the bottom to hit, or starting the spring house-hunting…and many checking out our coastside communities on one of our “10″ days on my subjective weather meter."   Even in the rain two weeks ago, I had buyers come from all over the Bay Area to view a lovely Sebastopol country property I was holding open.  Buyers who may feel like Redfin employee Susan Brady--a self-confessed mid-Peninsula resident with Sonoma Country property aspirations, on the outside looking in. If you want to see that same property in the sunshine so that you can appreciate the fabulous 360 degree views in a typical Sebastopol mini-farm setting on nearly 2 acres at the end of a peaceful country lane, please come see me tomorrow, February 17  at 5611 Hessel Avenue in Sebastopol, Ca 95472 from 1 pm to 4pm.  This property is listed by my friend Izetta Feeny, and is extremely well-priced at $725,000. See you there!  5611 Hessel Avenue, Sebastopol Open House this Sunday 2/17 from 1 to 4 pm....
Is the sky falling over Pollyanna? or mixing more than metaphors…
I felt a bit non-plussed when the Santa Rosa Press Democrat posted a very gloomy (yet again) outlook on our local real estate market, indicating the low level of sales (167) for the month of January and the year to year drop in the median price.  Sobering facts indeed and at first glance my previous post, Sonoma County Market May be Picking up in 2008 , made me feel that I might be perceived as having the typical realtor Pollyanna view of the market. How embarrassing!  However, if you read my post closely you will note that I mentioned that the number of PENDING sales (266)  is up higher than any month since last July just before the subprime mess hit the fan.  So perhaps there is a glimmer of hope after all. It is also interesting that the PD failed to mention a month to month increase of nearly $50,000 in the median home price for the county. Of course month to month numbers are not really as telling as year over year comparisons, but you can be sure they would have mentioned it had the price gone DOWN on a month to month basis. ...
Sonoma County Real Estate Market may be picking up in 2008
Just got an interesting email from my broker Rick Laws. Rick compiles many of the Sonoma County real estate market statistics used by the Press Democrat newspaper. I 'll have more in depth reports on January 2008 real estate sales in a couple of weeks. But briefly, Rick says, "There are 260 pending SFD sales reported (so far) for January. That is the strongest month since last July.The median price has bounced back up to $500K from $466,500 in December."  As many of you know, the market for country property in Sebastopol, Healdsburg and parts of Santa Rosa, has been reasonably strong. What is interesting is that we are seeing much more activity at the troubled lower end of the market, with many more multiple offer situations on short sales and REO's. Maybe buyers are starting to notice that here are some great bargains out there in Santa Rosa and Sonoma county real estate. More information as the data comes in...
How many miles of trails in Sonoma County?
Many people live in Sonoma county or want to buy real estate here in order to take advantage of the great access to hiking, horsebackriding and mountain biking trails. Road bicycling is another draw--just ask local bike racer Levi Leipheimer where he trains during the off-season when not competing in the tour de France. I was curious just how many miles of trails there are--especially for horsebackriding. My personal favorite. The Sonoma County Horse Council compiled a list and I did some totalling. This is a partial picture of a page at their site. Sonoma County Regional Parks total 2659 acres of parks with 30 miles of trails. California State Parks that allow horsebackriding total 16460 acres of parks with 111 miles of trails, including 11 miles of trails along the Sonoma Coast at Bodega Bay--great on a hot summer day! Annadel State Park with over 5200 acres and 35 miles of trails in the heart of Santa Rosa is borded by many horse properties with direct access to the park, and deserves its own post. I think I need to take a ride out there and tell you more about it. The Army Corp of Engineers runs Warm Springs Dam at Lake Sonoma above Healdsburg which is a spectacularly beautiful location with stunning views and 35 miles of trails on 17,000 acres. Many of these parks allow camping and some allow horse-camping. Much of Sonoma County is within an hour or so trailer ride to Point Reyes National Seashore and its campgrounds as well....