Summer Sale Closing Soon

Summer Sale Closing Soon

With interest rates becoming more favorable and market players returning from their summering, there are indicators pointing to a window of negotiating opportunity sunsetting with expectations building for a busy season ahead. 

Within the metropolis of Santa Rosa, according to BAREIS MLS, July’s data points to a marketplace executing on expected trend line levels and we suspect buyer activity levels to take a tick up in the coming months. Sellers debuted just 129 new single-family homes in July – 20 percent fewer than last year and another all-time monthly low - allowing the inventory of available homes to kick off the month of August at 292 – 49 percent greater than in 2023 – meaning that buyers may have opportunities to fill their order requests in the coming months. Home seekers laid claim to 154 single-family homes during the past month – just three more than last year at this same time – while Seller’s handed over keys on another 153 completed sales – 18 percent ahead of the 130 dwellings that traded twelve months prior. 

Santa Rosa recorded a Months’ Supply of Inventory (MSI) level of 1.9 – continuing to affirm that sellers are exerting more influence on the marketplace than buyers. 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.

Northeast Santa Rosa – the North Bay’s most active submarket - saw the introduction of 44 single-family homes in July – 30 percent fewer than this same period a year ago. The supply of homes was met with increased demand as there were 146 dwellings for house hunters to consider by months end – 40 percent more than during the same period last year. Buyers managed to absorb 52 homes into new contracts – just one less than in 2023 - with sellers receiving closing checks on another 59 properties – 41 percent more than last year, highlighting a tighter MSI of 2.5 now. Keep in mind that in this submarket some of the new listings posted are offerings for homes under construction, which adds some unrealistic bulk to what is actually available to purchase now, unlike most other sub-markets throughout Sonoma County.

Even busier, Southeast Santa Rosa saw the supply of listed properties rest at 47 as August opened – 31 percent more than just a year earlier. This submarket debuted 24 new listings in July – eight percent behind last year’s figures - while buyers garnered accepted offers on 25 additional dwellings – level with a year earlier. This coveted corner of the city experienced 25 closings in the period resulting in MSI tightening once again to 1.9.

Oakmont, a sprawling active adult community with over 4,700 residents itself, has been experiencing exceptional demand from buyers and seeing sellers respond with greater offerings as 28 more made it to market in July. Buyers jumped in and grabbed 22 new deals while sellers closed out 14 more sales leaving this region with 28 available homes for buyers to pursue in August along with an MSI that creeped up to 2.0.

Northwest Santa Rosa’s market is fervent with activity. In July, buyers advanced to control 35 more deals while leaving another 42 single-family homes available for sale at the beginning of August. Sellers committed 30 new offerings to the market in the period while 40 additional homes crossed the finish line, tightening MSI further to 1.1.

In a market where prices have been climbing steadily, Southwest Santa Rosa’s activity kept moving along as consumers placed 20 dwellings into contract during the period just as sellers handed over the keys to 15 new homeowners leaving 29 dwellings for buyers to view at the outset of August and a market experiencing an MSI of 1.9.

If you are looking to make your mark as a buyer on a home you have been watching, then one of the best times to negotiate with a seller is coming to a seasonal close. With that, we may also find that the inventory of available homes will likely shrink once again as we head towards the holidays and when options are less then prices tend to move upwards, especially in an interest rate friendly climate that we appear to be entering.