With the deurbanization movement underway the only thing that could have tempered market activity outside the major metro markets was a wildfire – or should I say several. With community members shifting their thinking to fire awareness, those living here as well as those moving here could not do much else than slow the roll of activity.
According to data collected by BAREIS MLS, a current overview of Sonoma County indicates an average sold price per-square-foot (psf) of $477 for a single-family home – a significant seven percent greater than just last year and ratification of the similar gains that were documented just a month earlier. That coupled with a median property value hovering around $700,000 is an incredibly strong showing for a market that is at the forefront of the deurbanization movement – on the beneficiary side that is.
As wildfires intercede in our statewide market activity, we expect our region to return to the new and immense demands it was seeing as far back as May. That - coupled with historical data points from other wildfires - could suggest that we see an even hotter market due to new local demands for homes to replace ones just lost to a fire.
Our fabled and rugged Sonoma Coastline delivered a robust 17 percent jump as sold values rose to $597psf while Northwest Santa Rosa received a 13 percent boost to $412psf from a year earlier. The tony town of Sonoma, inclusive of the hamlets of Kenwood and Glen Ellen, boasted an 11 percent leap to $692psf – reclaiming the top spot for most expensive real estate in Sonoma County.
Further removed, Northeast Santa Rosa bursting with new home construction, and of course sales, saw values ascend eight percent to $429psf while the Eastside of Petaluma along with the Cotati and Rohnert Park markets added six percent from a year earlier to land at $414psf and $389psf, respectively. The bustling summer haven known as the Russian River region experienced a four percent lift to $450psf followed closely by Windsor managing a three percent swing to $366psf.
Reporting no change year-over-year, Healdsburg and Southwest Santa Rosa showcased closing prices at $631psf and $368psf. Trimming six percent from last July were Petaluma’s Westside along with Oakmont reporting values settling to $453psf and $394psf, respectively. A nudge lower, losing seven percent, was Sebastopol coming in at $556psf.
Deeper in the cellar, Cloverdale coughed up 10 percent to close the period at $323psf while winning the run to the bottom this month found Southeast Santa Rosa sacrificing 23 percent from just a year earlier to close July at $385psf.
Having experienced and tracked our markets for decades through ups, downs, wildfires and pandemics the typical market we expect to see coming out of the current wildfires is likely to tighten up and get more voracious as those within our region who have lost homes will more than likely add demands to the already thin inventory that existed just prior. Be ready for intense action as September gets underway.
