Wine Country Group Results for August 2012:

The Wine Country Group had 110 closings this August compared to 89 in August 2011.  Our dollar volume was $51.7 million compared to $27 million last year.  This is the highest number of closings that we have had in any August since our founding in 1996.  This is the highest dollar volume that we have had in any August since 2005 when we had $53 million.  This is also the highest number of closings for any month this year, though we did exceed this dollar volume in March with $53 million.

Our Sonoma and Sebastopol offices each had 27 closings in August while the Healdsburg and Santa Rosa offices had 21 and 17 closings respectively.  The Sonoma office led in dollar volume closed with $14 million while the Sebastopol office had $11 million.  Our average closing sales price was $470,371 comparing to $306,057 a year ago.  Our escrow openings totaled 115 units compared to 54 last year – which is also an all-time record for the month of August.  We had 57 new listings compared to 34 a year ago.  All indicators are that the market in the Wine Country is continuing to strengthen.

The Wine Country Group currently has 100 pending sales with a value of $58 million dollars.  We have 175 active listings with a value of $135 million dollars.  That’s an average listing price of $772,000 – up from an average of $724,000 a year ago.

The Wine Country Group currently enjoys number one market share (in either (or both) units and dollar volume) in our Cloverdale, Healdsburg, and Sebastopol markets.  We are leading firm in the Wine Country Market of Northern California.

August, 2012 – Wine Country Real Estate Market Analysis

Sonoma County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (973) in Sonoma County at the end of August was 47% lower than last year (1,830) and slightly below the supply last month (1,003).  This is the lowest the inventory has been all year.  New sales in August (576) were 5% ahead of the pace in August 2011 (548) and they were slightly lower than the pace of last month (601).  There is only a 1.7 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace – a continuing indication of what we would normally call a strong “seller’s market”.  The median price of homes closed in August in Sonoma County was $362,000 and was 16% higher than the average price of homes sold a year ago ($308,000).

Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 12.5% of the available inventory (lower month over month).  The 122 distressed units available at the end of August was the lowest level for any month in the last five years.  41% of new sales and 32% of closings for the month were distressed properties.  There is only a one half months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.  The median price of the distressed homes sold in the month was $268,000, 6% ahead of the median price a year ago.

Cloverdale Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale in Cloverdale (41) at the end of August 2012 was 32% below that of a year ago (60) and was slightly above the inventory last month (39).  Sales for the month of August (25) were 19% ahead of the sales a year ago and also ahead of the sales reported last month (19).  There is a 1.6 months supply of available inventory in Cloverdale based on the current pace of new sales.  Only 15% of the inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 40% of the new sales and 31% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.

Healdsburg Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (98) in Healdsburg at the end of August was down 22% from that of last year (125) and it was equal to that of last month.  New sales (28) were up 17% from the 16 new sales in August 2011 and were nearly twice as many as the 15 sales last month.  The months of available inventory based on the current sales pace normalized at 3.5 months.   Only 4% of the inventory in Healdsburg consists of “distressed properties” (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), but 29% of the new sales were distressed properties and 12% of the closings were distressed properties.  There is a one half months supply of inventory based on the inventory and sales pace of distressed properties.

Petaluma: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (75) in Petaluma at the end of August was a whopping 61% lower than a year ago (193) and it was 10% lower than the supply last month (83).  It is the lowest inventory in the last twelve months.  New sales in August (63) were equal to the pace in August 2011 and they were 28% lower than the pace of last month (87).  There is only a 1.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 16% of the available inventory, 38% of new sales and 29% of closings for the month.

Santa Rosa: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (251) in Santa Rosa at the end of August fell for the 13^th straight month and was 60% lower than a year ago (624).   It was down 7% from the Inventory last month (270).  New sales in August (228) were equal to the pace in August 2011 and they were also equal to the pace of last month (236).  There is only a 1.1 months supply of available homes.  The median price of homes closed in August in Santa Rosa was $335,000 compared to $282,000 a year ago – a 19% increase.  Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) make up 19% of the available inventory (continues decreasing trend), 46% of new sales and 38% of closings for the month. There is only one half months supply of distressed properties available.

Sebastopol Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (84) in Sebastopol at the end of August was 26% lower than that of August 2011 (114) and it was 8% lower than that of last month (91).  There were 29 new sales for the month compared to 30 in August 2011 and 30 last month.  Sales have remained stable over the past three months.  There is a 2.9 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  Distressed properties represent only 8% of the inventory, 33% of the new sales for the month and 21% of the closings.  There is just 0.7 months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Sonoma Valley Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale (137) at the end of August in the Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood) was down 44% from the month of August 2011 (243).  It was down slightly from the inventory of a month ago (143).  There were 61 new sales for the month.  This is 3% higher than that of a year ago (59) and equal to that of last month.  There is currently a 2.2 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace. Distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) in the Sonoma Valley in August represent just 6% of the inventory, 23% of the new sales and 23% of the closings.  The impact of distressed sales on the market continues to decline and there is only a .06% months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Windsor Trends: The inventory of homes for sale in Windsor (32) at the end of August was 67% lower than the inventory (97) in August 2011 and was equal to the 30 units available last month.  Inventory remains very low in Windsor.  There were 38 new sales of homes and condominiums in Windsor in August, which is 9.5% lower than the 42 sales in August of 2011 and equal to the sales last month.  There is just a .8 months supply of inventory based on the current sales pace.  22% of the available inventory is distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure) while 50% of the new sales and 50% of the closings for the month are distressed properties.  There is only a .4% months supply of distressed properties available based on the current sales pace.

Napa County Trends: The inventory of homes and condominiums for sale at the end of August in Napa County fell slightly to 467 units.  This is 32% below the inventory (683) at this time last year and is slightly below the inventory in July.  New sales (160) were 11% ahead of the pace of a year ago (144) and 8% higher than the pace of last month (148).  The months of inventory available at the current sales pace dipped to 2.9 months.  The median price of homes closed ($390,000) was 11% higher than the median price of a year ago ($350,000).  9% of the current listings in Napa County are distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure).  38% of the new sales and 35% of the closed sales for the month are distressed properties.  There is only a 0.7 months supply of distressed properties on the market based on the current sales pace.

The City of Napa figures indicate a tighter market than the overall County figures.  The inventory (248) is off 39% from a year ago (406).  New sales (117) are 41% ahead of a year ago (88) and 17% ahead of that of last month (100).  There is 2.1 months of available inventory at the current sales pace.  The median price for homes closed in Napa in the month of August was $410,000, 19% ahead of a year ago ($345,000) and ahead of the median prices over the past twelve months.  The City has similar ratios with regard to the impact of distressed properties on the market.  They are a relatively low impact at this time.  There is only a 0.4 months supply of distressed properties.

St. Helena/Up Valley Trends: The St. Helena/Up Valley market (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena and Yountville), inventory at the end of August increased for the seventh straight month.  The inventory was 185 units, down 11% from 207 a year ago and up a nine units from last month.  There were 19 new sales in the month of August compared to 20 in August of last year and 20 last month.  Just 7% of the inventory consists of distressed properties (bank-owned, short sale or foreclosure), 20% of the new sales for the month were distressed properties and 13% of the closed sales were distressed properties.

Closings: The following agents enjoyed closings for the period from August 1 to August 31, 2012:

In our Cloverdale office, Ron and Jane Pavelka enjoyed a Wine Country Group leading eight closings.

In our Healdsburg office:  Mike Downes, Gina Cleaver, Ann Amtower, Nicki Rector, Judy Csimma and Kent Mitchell each had two closings; and Penelope La Montagne, Betty Hagedon and Charlee Schanzer each had a closing.

In our Napa office:  Tressa Anderson and Stacey Oftedal both enjoyed two closings; and Lark Raymond, Shawn Daee, Nick Simone and Lynda Jensen each had a closing.

In our Petaluma office: Silvia Schagerer, Juliet Casazza and Stephen Crook each had a closing.

In our Santa Rosa offices:  The team of Larry Tristano and Charles Himes, Mark Payne and Carlos Rivas of Mason McDuffie Commercial Real Estate enjoyed four closings each; Tom Shula, Bonnie Falconer and Lila Mathia had two closing each; and Donald Hamilton, Charles Himes, Tom Apostolides, Cheri Johnke and David Poulsen each had a closing.

In our Sebastopol office:  Lori Sacco and Laurie Parris enjoyed three closings each; William Kent, Kaye Henzerling, Chris Nelson and the team of Doug Schaeffer and Cary Fargo had two closings each; and Bill Cole, the team of Gene Bonino and Will Brown, Francine Passalacqua, Doug Schaeffer, Timothy Hedges, Michael and Pauline Pellini, Michaela Kalemba, Allison Pharis, Si Edman, Pat Paulsen, Liz Uribe and Sandie Schach each had a closing.

In our Sonoma office:  Mike Caselli was busy with six closings; Sheila Deignan and Tish Thames enjoyed four closings each; Leo Merle enjoyed three closings; Erick Rothfeld, and Michael Crain each had two closings; and Patty Keiser, Mara Kahn, Diana Tate, Joyce Davison, Diane Krause, Helaine Forte, Isaac Raboy, Rob Jones and Diane Litchfield each had a closing.

And, in our St. Helena office:  Liz Manfree had four closings; Linda Alioto and Gina Papale-White had two closings each; and Jeff Veness had a closing for this period.

Congratulations to all!