Highest level ratified Sonoma County real estate sales since autumn 2006

filed under: Buyers, Market updates posted on March 4th, 2008

Real Estate February open escrows in Sonoma County at highest rate since October 2006

Last month I posted an encouraging word about increased January 2008 real estate sales  activity in Sonoma county.  My fellow realtors and I are all noticing a pickup in buyer activity since December.  “People are realizing that their are some “smoking” deals out there and getting down off the fence.  I think 2008 will be the year of the buyer.” said my broker at Coldwell Banker, Rick Laws , on a brief phone call today.  He had just emailed us the first look at February real estate sales data for Sonoma County homes and condominiums and the data verify the gut feel possessed by many of us who as realtors are active in the market on a daily basis.   I am glad because I was feeling a bit like Pollyanna after my last post, given the gloom and doom in the media.  The media spin  generally lags street level reality by weeks or months, which is why timing the real estate market or any market for that matter, is so difficult to do.

 Anyway, newly opened escrows (ratified contracts) are up over 65% this month from last to 363 units.  January saw the largest number of ratifieds of any month since last July 2007, but get this, February’s sales are up to a level not seen since AUTUMN of 2006!  Given seasonal factors, that is a pretty encouraging sign.  January ratifieds were 220 units and December was at 171.

If you are interested in learning about some of the great real estate buys in Sonoma County, whether for single family homes, country property, horse property or investment purposes, please feel free to email me or call.   I will post more in depth data for February when it becomes available in another week or so.

posted by Pam Buda // 5 Comments »

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 4:52 PM and is filed under Buyers, Market updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. Real Estate - Information on Real Estate » Highest level ratified Sonoma County real estate sales since … said at March 4th, 2008 at 5:35 PM

    [...] level ratified Sonoma County real estate sales since … unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptLast month I posted an encouraging [...]

  2. horse property gal said at March 6th, 2008 at 1:35 AM

    I agree, there are some great deals out there if you look in the right places! Wine country is so great!

  3. Rising real estate sales in Sonoma County fueled by bargains in Bank-owned or REO homes | Wine Country And Horses said at April 21st, 2008 at 8:59 AM

    [...] yet closed) reaching the highest level in over two years. This appears to solidify a trend first noted in this blog in early February. The newly ratified purchase contracts will not close till 30 to 45 days after ratification on [...]

  4. Equus Hall of Fame Banquet tonight! | Wine Country And Horses said at April 21st, 2008 at 12:59 PM

    [...] WineCountryandHorses (this blog) has put together a table of ten and we are looking forward to perusing the silent auction items. I have advised everyone to bring their checkbooks, and friend and tablemate Christine DeLoach of Hook and Ladder Winery has also graciously donated several cases of Hook and Ladder Third Alarm Chardonnay to the Council for this evening’s festivities. I think a few bottles of red may find their way in tonight as well! [...]

  5. Sonoma County Real Estate Market Update, May 2008 | Wine Country And Horses said at June 5th, 2008 at 3:06 PM

    [...] up 68 percent this year over last. Even if some fall out of escrow, that is a significant boost to a trend we first noted here in early March. Even more interestingly, new listings are down 14% over last year. So where do you think the market [...]

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