Interest in Homes Grows

Interest in Homes Grows

Buyers and sellers have woken again from their seasonal slumber as 2025 gets underway.

According to BARIES MLS, Sonoma County had exactly 574 single-family homes left for sale at the close of January – 42% greater than in 2024. Sellers delivered 244 new listings to the market during the month – 7% less than in 2024 as well as being another new all-time low - while buyers garnered control of 246 new deals – 17% more than a year ago. In support of these metrics, completed sales stood at 186 for the period – essentially on par with the 187 units sold at this same time last year.

The continued pace of the markets can be measured by the months’ supply of inventory (MSI) and, with buyer activity continuing to increase we anticipate the marketplace to remain in favor of those that own property even though this metric spiked to 3.1 in January – affirming the most recent trends that our markets will not slip towards a balanced one and will likely remain as they have since 2011, a sellers’ market, with a greater percentage chance of 2025 being a year that showcases a bounce upward in available listings as well as more closed transactions. 

MSI is the metric that indicates the number of months it would take to sell the current inventory at the current rate of sales. An MSI ranging from 4.0 to 6.0 is indicative of a balanced market, with lower numbers increasingly favoring sellers and vice versa.

From a sellers’ market to a balanced one, to a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market, the Town of Sonoma, which submarket includes properties throughout Kenwood and Glen Ellen, reported 78 homes for sale as January concluded – 28% higher than last year. This region experienced the addition of 20 new available dwellings during the month while buyers garnered accepted contracts on 14 more properties. Sellers in the valley awarded keys to just 11 new homeowners in the period – the primary reason for the spike in MSI to 7.1 this month.

Healdsburg witnessed 17 new listings debuting in the market last month, 70% ahead of a year ago. Buyers absorbed 19 homes in new deals while sellers closed out merely 10 transactions leaving this submarket with 65 domiciles for presentation to buyers in February – 86% above year ago levels - culminating in an MSI reading of 6.5 – denoting a buyer’s market is in play, though we expect this to be a more temporary finding.

Sebastopol wrapped up the period with 22 available homes for buyers to consider, which included the eight new offerings from property holders in January. Home shoppers placed 10 more abodes into contract while sellers completed 11 sales, allowing MSI to steady at 2.2 – definitively a sellers’ market.

More southerly, Petaluma’s remains robust with activity as sellers continue to hold the greatest influence and released 30 new listings in January, leaving available inventory at 40 homes for buyers to select from by February. Home seekers latched onto 34 new deals in the period while sellers closed out 30 more purchases pressuring MSI to come in at 1.5 for the period – a market where sellers are certainly still setting the terms for each sale.

January’s data - though mixed when evaluating sub-markets - as whole shows Sonoma County continuing to build activity amongst both buyers and sellers. The overall marketplace is looking to bounce ahead from the flatline of sales activity experienced over the prior two years – which essentially, built a new baseline for our markets to go forward and grow from.