Cash is King

Cash is King
Sales of single-family residences using cash for purchases surged this month while bank financed deals stepped back - due to both the higher interest rates and the lack of plausible
inventory to meet buyer requirements mostly.

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 $592 being paid for a single-family
home – four percent greater than last year at this time – corroborating the improvements in property value echoed by other metrics. The marginal rise in value is iterated by the median
price hovering in the mid-800’s and closing out this month at $842,000.

Within the 15 different sub-markets of Sonoma County, sales of single-family homes in Healdsburg trampled all other market gainers with a 95 percent surge to $1,379psf – on light
volume of very high-end home sales this month – while Northeast Santa Rosa, the Northbay’s busiest niche market, soared nine percent to $538psf. Oakmont claimed an eight percent
advance registering average sold values at $472psf while Petaluma’s Eastside captured a seven percent rise to $556psf. Turning in a five percent ascension was Southeast Santa Rosa closing
the period at $491psf while Windsor came in even with last year at $455psf.

On the other side of positive, Northwest Santa Rosa lost two percent with sold values at $426psf while the Russian River region ceded four percent to wrap up September at $496psf.
The tony town of Sonoma – inclusive of the hamlets of Glen Ellen and Kenwood – surrendered five percent as completed purchase for the period averaged $842psf while Petaluma’s Westside
gave up eight percent to close at $590psf.

With double digit losses from the same period last year, Cloverdale and the coalesced markets of Cotati and Rohnert Park shed 10 percent with closings happening at $399psf and $423psf,
respectively. Coughing up 11 percent was Southwest Santa Rosa where homes traded at $422psf while our stunning Coastal communities retrenched 14 percent to $849psf. This periods biggest giveaway was in Sebastopol where home sales crossed the finish line 17 percent lower at $600psf.

As it looks like the Federal Reserve may now be taking a “wait and see” attitude, be prepared for rates to hover at this point for a few months more and at least until the national economic
data starts to indicate a perceivable turn in growth rates. This may or may not allow inventory to rise noticeably enough to put a halt to price appreciation, rather more of the same where it
seems our markets are plateauing, which also means as rates adjust downward in the future this will bring more buyers back into the markets and could be the catalyst price increase once again.