Annual Sales Volume Down While Prices Rise

Annual Sales Volume Down While Prices Rise

Home sales in Sonoma County slowed to levels not experienced since 1990 and 1993 - generally in-step with what happened across the nation last year as values paid reached new historical
highs.

According to the most recent data collected by BAREIS MLS, a current overview of Sonoma County shows an average sold price per-square-foot (psf) of $550 being paid for a single-family
home – four percent greater than last year at this time – corroborating the improvements in property value echoed by the average sales price closing at a historical high of $1,050,000 as
2023 came to completion.

Within the 15 different sub-markets of Sonoma County, sales of single-family homes in Healdsburg along with Petaluma’s Westside vastly outperformed from just a year earlier with a
22 percent surge to $1,000psf and $622psf with the Russian River region nipping at their heals roaring ahead 21 percent to $507psf. Oakmont saw values climb 11 percent to $505psf while
the coalesced markets of Cotati and Rohnert Park touted four percent improvements to close the year at $421psf.

A nudge removed, both the tony town of Sonoma and Windsor ascended two percent to $685psf and $459psf, respectively, while just this side of positive, Sebastopol along with
Petaluma’s Eastside and Northwest Santa Rosa reported one percent improvements to $604psf, $478psf and $421psf, respectively.

Playing at par with a year earlier, Southwest Santa Rosa came in at $432psf while Northeast Santa Rosa ceded seven percent wrapping up the period at $457psf out doing the losses in our
Coastal marketplace where sales posted at $894psf – off 10 percent. The final two niches’ both plummeted 24 percent as Southeast Santa Rosa hit $476psf and Cloverdale deals rang in the
new year at $441psf.

Inventory levels of available homes sank to their all-time lows in 2023 buoyed by years of ultra - low interest rates locking owners into their current homes while construction of new homes
languished like in no other decade on record over the last 75 years. Now, as the Federal Reserve pivots to a more dovish position and the 10-year Treasury Bond trading at levels
indicating a lower interest rate climate ahead, we are now seeing mortgage rates abate -making home buying more affordable and likely drawing in buyers that were sidelined last year
as rates breached 8 percent.

We are seeing deals getting done in the 5.75-6.5 percent range currently which may be bringing more purchase competition back into place as our year opens up…Get in touch with me and let’s chart your course for success in 2024 and beyond!