We pulled together some of the latest July housing data for Sonoma County because we wanted a clearer picture of what is actually happening locally in the communities we regularly do business in. At first glance, the countywide numbers suggest a market that is settling into a slower, more balanced pace.
But once we started looking city by city, the story became much more interesting.
Across Sonoma County, 364 single-family homes sold in July, down 6.2% from the previous month. The median sales price was $835,000, which was down 4.6% from June and 1.2% from the same time last year. Homes also took a little longer to sell, with average days on market increasing to 53. At the same time, properties were still selling for about 97% of their original asking price.
The numbers point to a market that is still moving, just not with the same intensity across the board. Buyers are pushing back when a home feels overpriced, while sellers with the right property and the right price can still find plenty of interest.
What stood out to us most was how quickly that picture changes depending on where you look.
Rohnert Park, for example, is still showing a strong seller's market, with a Market Action Index of 66 and only 18 homes available. Windsor is also favoring sellers, with just 28 homes on the market. Santa Rosa and Sebastopol are showing a slight seller's advantage as well.
Then we look at Healdsburg and Kenwood, and the experience is very different. Healdsburg currently has a Market Action Index of 28, giving buyers a slight advantage, with average days on market reaching 153. Kenwood is also showing a slight buyer's advantage, even though there are only 6 homes available.
That is where the data starts telling a better story than any single market headline can.
6 homes on the market sounds like extremely limited supply, and normally we might expect that to create strong competition among buyers. But supply only matters when there is enough demand to absorb it. If buyers are not moving at the same pace, even a market with very little inventory can begin to favor them.
We saw the same kind of push and pull when we looked at price reductions.
Rohnert Park may be one of the strongest seller's markets in the group, but 44% of current listings have reduced their asking price. In Santa Rosa, 42% have reduced their price. Cloverdale is at 40%, Healdsburg at 36%, and Windsor and Sebastopol are both at 32%.
That tells us buyers are still very much part of the pricing conversation.
A seller may have limited competition from other listings, but that does not mean buyers will accept any asking price. Homes that are priced well can still attract attention, while properties that enter the market too aggressively may sit longer and eventually adjust.
Price point is also having a noticeable impact on how the market feels.
Rohnert Park's median list price is approximately $781,500, and the median home is spending 28 days on the market. Healdsburg's median list price is more than $2.1 million, with a median market time of 98 days. Kenwood is approaching a $2 million median list price, with a median market time of 81 days.
Those buyers are operating in very different environments. The pool of buyers generally becomes smaller as prices increase, and buyers at higher price points may have more flexibility to wait for the right property. That can create more negotiating room even when inventory itself appears limited.
The condo market adds another layer to the story. There were 23 condo sales in Sonoma County during July, down 25.8% from the previous month adrage days on market increased to 66, while the median sales price rose to $420,000. That monthly increase looks positive on its own, but the same median price was still down 18.9% compared with last year.
It is another reminder that one statistic rarely tells us everything we need to know.
For us, the interesting part of all this is what happens when these market conditions meet a real transaction.
A buyer may find a property that has been sitting for several weeks and suddenly has an opportunity to negotiate. An investor may come across a deal that makes more sense today than it did a few months ago. A homeowner may see an opportunity to purchase another property before selling their current one. Someone may have plenty of equity but need access to capital faster than a traditional lender can provide it.
That is where market data stops being just numbers and starts becoming useful.
The Pacific Direct Bottom Line
We gathered this information because we wanted to understand what is happening in the markets where we lend, and the biggest takeaway is that Sonoma County is not moving in one direction.
Some communities still clearly favor sellers. Others are giving buyers more leverage. Price reductions are common even in stronger sellers’ markets, and higher price points are often moving at a very different pace than more affordable areas.
That creates opportunity, but sometimes being able to act on that opportunity comes down to financing.
Private Money is not the answer to every transaction, but when the purchase or refinance makes sense and traditional financing does not fit the timing, borrower qualifications or circumstances of the deal, having another creative option can make all the difference!
If you are looking at a transaction and wondering whether there is another way to make the financing work, that is where we come in with our creative Private Money loans.
It’s another reason we’re the Private Money Lender everyone’s starting to talk about.
Husband & Wife Team Phone: 707‑708‑0797 / Office: 1400 N. Dutton Ave #22 Santa Rosa, CA 95401 Ken: CA DRE Broker #01858042 / NMLS #1221130 Ari: CA DRE #01858152 / NMLS #2170867 Ken & Ari are a husband & wife team with combined 3+ decades in real estate and private money industries. They own Pacific Direct Mortgage & Real Estate, specializing in Private Money loans (also known as Hard Money home loans). Having helped thousands of Borrowers & working directly with Brokers, Agents and Lenders to help when needed with fast, flexible, alternative financing for real estate purchases and refinances throughout California. No issues with DTI ratios, credit issues, property condition, difficult to prove income ‑ we want to help
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