‘Nothing Is Immune’
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has this update from California. “Sebastopol and Russian River area home prices are at opposite ends of Sonoma County’s housing market, yet both have seen dips in recent months. Homes are staying on the market longer as buyers seek the best deals and sellers face pressure to cut prices.”
“‘You have to take notice of it. Nothing is immune,’ said agent Barbara Young. Young has a new listing in Sebastopol priced about $20,000 below what she would have recommended a year ago.”
“‘The market is softening everywhere in the North Bay. There’s a certain degree of resistance. That is often a very healthy thing to keep markets in balance,’ said (broker) Jeff Morford in Guerneville, the heart of the Russian River.”
“So far this year, sales of existing single-family homes in the Sebastopol area are down nearly 15 percent from a year ago. Russian River home sales are down 41 percent. Countywide, sales are off 20 percent from last year’s pace, according to the monthly Press Democrat housing report provided by Coldwell Banker. The county’s inventory of homes on the market has soared to a 10-year high.”
“Sebastopol median resale prices dipped below last year’s in each of the past three months, with May’s median coming in at $734,500. The Russian River median resale price dipped two of the past three months compared with a year ago and was $397,000 in May. The countywide median was $603,000 for the month, a percent higher than a year ago but down from a peak of $619,000 last August.”
“Kathleen Carr recognized she needed to price her Sebastopol home based on what’s selling in today’s market and not what it might have been worth a year ago. Carr is confident she will get $729,000 for her 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom home on a sunny acre surrounded by redwoods.”
“Carr’s home might have sold for $750,000 last summer, said Young, her agent. ‘I thought about selling last summer because I realized it was around the peak, but I just wasn’t ready,’ she said.”
“Both Sebastopol and Russian River remain attractive to families seeking homes and buyers from out of the area looking for vacation residences. With declining sales and leveling prices, agents and sellers are counting on the west county’s attractiveness for buyers to sustain demand.”
“‘People that have money have a wonderful area that they can come to. And it’s close enough to San Francisco and the peninsula that they can get away for the weekends,’ Young said.”