Housing Affordability – Interest Rates Were A Key Factor This Year! #InvestNAPA #COMPASS

‘Due to the large drop in interest rates since Q4 2018, and the small drop in median home prices, housing affordability ticked up significantly in recent quarters – as was generally the case around the Bay Area.’

Bay Area Median Home Prices & Market Sizes by County. Median House Price Trends since 1996 – Selected Communities. These 2 charts are estimated calculations of median home value trends by an algorithm created for that purpose. As always, these numbers should be considered very general approximations of prices in complex markets containing homes of widely varying size and quality. As is the case in most Bay Area markets, the algorithm calculated price declines in many Sonoma County communities, down from recent peaks.

Median Dollar per Square Foot
& Median Home Square Footage

Housing Affordability

Due to the large drop in interest rates since Q4 2018, and the small drop in median home prices, housing affordability ticked up significantly in recent quarters – as was generally the case around the Bay Area. This chart illustrates the percentage of households able to purchase a median priced house, with 20% down and a loan at prevailing interest rates.

Bay Area Markets for Homes of $5 Million+

This chart compares the number of $5m+ active listings in October 2019 to the total number of $5m+ sales reported to MLS in the 12-month period through October.

Market Seasonality: New Listings
Coming on Market

The market is now deep into its seasonal plunge in activity, which hits its nadir in December. (This chart is updated through October. November saw its usual big drop in new listing activity.)

Selected Market Indicators by City

The big 2 factors defining supply and demand dynamics in Sonoma County cities are location, of course, and the general range of home prices within the community. Some of these communities contain homes across a wide range of size and quality, especially the biggest market – the city of Santa Rosa. Whether the specific market sees a high percentage of second-home buyers is also a significant factor (as a subset of the location issue).

Price Reductions by Month

The percentage of listings reducing price within the month was well down from the big spike of last year, but still running higher than previous years.