“Busy” this is one word that has not been on real estate agents for the past few years. The market has been see sawing between dull and hopeful and many of them have had to do with just that –hope. In spite of the downturn that has persisted since 2005 things have been slightly changing and the years ahead are looking better.
At Sonoma County, 2011 there was a marginal rise in home sales in 2011 with buyers purchasing 4,637 homes which is a second best since 2005. Prices fell 8 percent to a median of about 325,000 which is the lowest since 2000.
These figures may look low to the ordinary observer but not so according to industry averages because most of the other close communities returned far much higher drops in the region of 45 to 56 percent for Windsor and Santa Rosa respectively.
These figures indicate a changing trend in Sonoma County coming into 2012. In my best bet, the turnaround experienced in 2011 is an indication of what agent should expect. Buyers seem to be getting back to the business as issues of loans and refinancing point to a friendlier financial environment in this sector that has not shown signs of recovery since for the last 10 years.
Some buyers have even began to complain of shortage of homes to sell which may be a result of sellers taking a wait and see position expecting better prices going forward.
Agents and brokers now have their work cut. Their main challenge is to make the best out of the up turn. They must be ready to burn the midnight oil to convince sellers that it is time to let go and at the same time get buyers to accept the rising prices. The good and the best will be known at the “closing” table and it is time to get to work in this market.
The happenings in Sonoma may also trigger similar rebounds in the surrounding communities and the whole market may just be on the turn.
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