The season most forgettably brings about this annual query, “what would you like this year”? Let me start this off for you…An end to the pandemic, more time with family, ability to get together with friends, taking a vacation with loved ones and, in many hearts, a new place to call home.
The Santa Rosa metro region is working to accommodate all of these desires. According to BAREIS MLS, with October in the rearview mirror, we find the marketplace absorbing homes at a heightened level above historical norms with only 279 single-family homes remaining for sale in the city and its environs – 19 percent less than this same time a year ago – coupled with exacerbated buyer activity as 153 single-family homes were absorbed into pending contracts during the past month – adding further trend line confirmation to our “V” shaped recovery scenario.
The entire municipality introduced 150 new listings to the market over the last month – one percent greater than a year ago - while the most recent period also found Sellers handing over keys on 189 completed sales – 19 percent more than in 2019. This compression of metrics is affirmed by Santa Rosa recording its’ Months’ Supply of Inventory (MSI) hovering at 1.5 – attributed in good part due to the fundamental shift in population migration from the greater Bay Area along with the cost of money in our current economy. This has propelled the median price up 12 percent to $675,000 from just a year earlier.
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 generally indicative of a balanced market, with lower numbers increasingly favoring sellers and vice versa.
Getting down to the underlying specifics, Northeast Santa Rosa saw the introduction of just 53 single-family homes in October – a 20 percent decrease from this same period a year ago. The supply of homes was met with over the top absorption during the period as there were only 132 dwellings for home seekers to consider by months end – 13 percent fewer than in 2019. Buyers embarked on 51 newly initiated escrows while sellers received closing checks on another 69 properties – 11 percent ahead of this same time last year and delivering an MSI of 1.9.
Southeast Santa Rosa saw the supply of available properties rise to 40 by months end – slightly more than the prior month though 37 percent less than a year earlier. This submarket debuted 31 new homes in October while buyers garnered accepted offers on 34 additional dwellings. This coveted corner of the city experienced 29 formal transfers – maintaining pressure on an already tight market with MSI leveling off at 1.4.
Oakmont was the victim of a wildfire season that truncated both selling and buying activities this past month. The 55+ retirement community witnessed just 11 sellers debuting new offerings in the period. Buyers still found their way to acceptances on 15 new purchases while sellers concluded 16 transactions during the period. The activity level indicates an MSI of 2.8 – which is amazing considering the “offline” nature of activity due to the Glass Fire in October.
Multiple offers are still the rampant norm in Northwest Santa Rosa as buyers swooped in to gain control of 37 more deals leaving 45 available single-family homes to carry over into November. Sellers committed 46 new offerings to the markets while another 54 homes completed the closing process. This intense activity has brought about an MSI of 0.8 – with no relief in sight.
With 36 percent fewer listings than just a year earlier, Southwest Santa Rosa found that it had just 18 homes available by month’s end after buyers completed 21 more deals during the period. Sellers pitched in to bring just nine new listings to the table in October while buyers pledged their paychecks towards 16 accepted contracts during the month – causing this submarkets MSI to crater to 0.9.
I can only imagine what older generations lived through while hearing their stories of childhood, war and the Spanish Flu. This year we may very well become more empathetic to how real these events are and how they impact our own personal well-being along with the choices we make from here. I will say, it’s nice to hear people dwelling on the less material type of things that may have ordinarily not appeared on their list of wants over the holidays.
