Email  Print

Wine Country Market Analysis - March 2011

Napa County Trends:  The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale at the end of March in Napa County (565) was 9% below the inventory (620) at this time last year and was equal to the inventory in February. New sales (160) were 4% ahead of the pace a year ago (154) and up a whopping 31% from last month (122).   28% of the current listings in Napa County are distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure).  62% of the new sales and 53% of the closed sales for the month were distressed. The city of Napa figures mirrored the county with regard to the impact of distressed properties on the market.  American Canyon remains short on inventory as there are just 1.2 months supply based on new sales and the impact of distressed properties is the highest in the county:  56% of inventory, 85% of new sales and 70% of closings.

St. Helena/Up Valley Trends: The St. Helena/Up Valley market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville), inventory remained flat in March with 155 units compared to 161 last month and 180 in March of 2010.  There were 15 new sales for the month which is consistent with the pace a year ago and over the past several months. Just 7% of the inventory consisted of distressed properties, but 50% (7) of the new sales for the month were distressed properties.

Sonoma County Trends:  The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (1,477) in Sonoma County at the end of March was 7.5% higher than a year ago (1,374) and slightly ahead of the supply last month (1456).  New sales (496) in March were 3% behind the pace in March 2010 (509) and they were 15% ahead of the pace of last month (431).  This is surprising based upon the rainy weather that we experienced in March – one might have thought that buyers were under cover. The median price of homes closed in February in Sonoma County was $290,000 was 10% below the median price of homes sold a year ago and the lowest in 15 months.  There is only a 3 month supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  Distressed properties make up 35% of the available inventory, 62% of new sales and 57% of closings for the month.   

Sonoma Valley Trends:  The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (187) jumped up 23% in the month of March in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) from the month of February.  It was equal to that of last year (184). It signals the start of the spring market. There were 33 new sales for the month, which is 32% lower than that of a year ago (49) and slightly lower than that of last month (36). It does appear that the rainy weather in March did deter buyers more in the Valley than in the County as a whole. The median price of the homes closed (31) in the Valley in March was $333,000 compared to $385,000 last month and $405,000 a year ago and as with the County, was the lowest in 15 months.  Distressed sales are certainly impacting the overall median prices in the Sonoma Valley market as distressed properties represent 25% of the inventory, 42% of the new sales and 53% of the closings. While there is an overall 5.7 months supply of housing inventory in the Valley, there is only a 2.8 months supply of distressed properties.

Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (75) in Healdsburg at the end of March was 17% lower than the inventory (90) in March 2010 and it was 21% higher than that of a month ago (62).  New sales (10) were 29% lower than the 14 new sales in March 2010 and 44% lower than the 18 new sales last month.  Only 10% of the inventory consists of “distressed properties”.   50% of the new sales were distressed properties and 17% of the closings were distressed properties.

Cloverdale Trends:  The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (58) at the end of March 2011 was 29% higher than that of a year ago (45) and remained equal to that of month ago. Sales for the month of March (12) 33% lower than the pace a year ago (18) and were 25% lower than that of the 16 new sales reported in February 2010.  There is a 3.9 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales. The Cloverdale market is more dramatically impacted by distressed properties than the county in general but lesser so than some communities like Windsor (see below), 34% of the inventory are distressed properties and 58% of the new sales and 60% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.

Sebastopol Trends:  The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (62) in the Sebastopol at the end of March was equal to that for March 2010 (65) and it was equal to that of last month (62). There were 19 new sales for the month, which is equal that of a year ago and higher than that of last month (14). Distressed sales are certainly impacting the overall median prices in the Sonoma Valley market as distressed properties represent 24% of the inventory, 53% of the new sales and 53% of the closings. 

Windsor Trends:  The inventory of homes for sale in Windsor (66) at the end of March was 12% lower than the inventory (75) in March 2010 and was equal to the 64 units available last month.  There were 35 new sales of homes and condominiums in Windsor in March, which compares to 31 sales in March of 2010 and 31 last month.  There is just a 1.9 months supply of inventory based on the new sales pace, so Windsor is a hot market right now, 48% of the available inventory are distressed properties while 71% of the new sales and 69% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.  It appears that homebuyers are recognizing value in the distressed sales in Windsor.

If you would like a monthly update of this information, or information on other market areas, please drop me an e-mail at gsned@winecountrygroup.com,
Gerrett Snedaker, CRB Senior Vice President, Wine Country Group