With September looking livelier than July or August for the first time in our history we are seeing activity surge from its’ summer escape.
The Santa Rosa metro region is feeling the impacts from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes coupled with American’s taking an extended summer with both sellers and buyers stealing time away to celebrate the lives they have. According to BAREIS MLS – with August in the rearview mirror - the data points to a marketplace still trying to find its cadence with only 203 single-family homes remaining for sale in the city and its environs – 49 percent less than this same time a year ago and an all-time monthly low similar to each prior month of this calendar year. Buyers laid claim to 147 single-family homes during the past month – a rate 37 percent less than a year earlier though higher than the previous month which was lost in the trough of inactivity noted above.
The entire municipality introduced 120 new listings to the market over the last month – 51 percent fewer than in 2021. The most recent period also found Seller’s handing over keys on another 120 completed sales – 55 percent behind last year and held back due to the lack of homes for buyers to select from. As our market continues to deal with historically low inventory, the statistics will be artificially hampered since a significant portion of unsatiated demand is going unmet each month as more properties continue to be absorbed while fewer sellers enter the “open” market with fresh inventory.
This compression is affirmed by Santa Rosa recording its’ Months’ Supply of Inventory (MSI) at 1.7 – a slight, though expected, bump higher over the previous period. This can be attributed to the fundamental shift in population migration from the greater Bay Area and the lack of sellers interested
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.
Within the city, Northeast Santa Rosa – the North Bay’s most active submarket - saw the introduction of merely 41 single-family homes in August – 56 percent fewer than this same period a year ago while also matching the all-time low realized in December. The supply of homes was met with active demand during the period as there were only 85 dwellings for home seekers to consider by months end – another all-time low and 48 percent lower than the depths we were experiencing at this time last year. Buyers still managed to absorb 55 homes into contracts while sellers received closing checks on another 39 properties – resulting in an MSI of 2.2.
Southeast Santa Rosa saw the supply of listed properties rest at 35 by the end of last month. This submarket debuted just 17 new homes in the period while buyers garnered accepted offers on 22 additional dwellings. This coveted corner of the city experienced 20 formal transfers in August culminating in an MSI reading of 1.8.
Oakmont experienced a surge in buyer activity in August leaving only 16 homes available for sale at the end of the month. Property owners launched 11 new offerings in the period – 68 percent fewer than last year - while buyers inked out another 22 new deals. Sellers closed out another 11 transactions during the month – also 68 percent fewer than the prior year - leaving this niche market with an MSI of 1.5.
In Northwest Santa Rosa, buyers swooped in to gain control of 27 more deals leaving 42 single-family homes available for sale at months end. Sellers committed 31 additional offerings to the market while another 33 homes completed the closing process. Steady, but lower activity levels lead MSI to grow to 1.3 this month.
Southwest Santa Rosa sellers delivered 20 new offerings to the market this past month while consumers placed 21 more dwellings into contract. Newly minted homeowners captured keys on 17 closings, leaving 25 homes available for buyers to peruse in September while establishing an MSI of 1.5.
Buyers and sellers are returning from a hiatus to find not much has changed since May, except the cost of money growing considerably and even fewer homes to select from – not the build-up of inventory buyers had been hoping for. This has created a professionals market where the savviest agents know the right tools to help clients decipher the options and sequencing for their desired results. Make your connection today!
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