Overbidding has become a common catch word in real estate, with resolute, prospective buyers showing over time that they’re willing to pay over asking price. The trend has accelerated in the last few years since the pandemic took hold.
In May 2020, 25% of the offers were over the listing price. Three years later, 55% of the bids were over. Listings are low all over California and across the nation, insiders have indicated. Therefore, home sales are fewer in numbers by about 20%. One North Bay County, Sonoma, knows the pain of the housing shortage, lacking about 38,000 units to provide adequate shelter for its residents. Still, home sales are still happening as the demand refuses to subside.
You just need to look at the median home price in the following cities to realize that the “supply and demand” principle is alive and well in the North Bay.
2023 Sonoma County median sales price
-Kenwood: $2.9M
-Sea Ranch: $1.3M
-Healdsburg & Bodega Bay: $1.2M
-Penngrove & Glen Ellen: $1.1M
-Sebastopol: $1M
-Sonoma: $987,000
-Santa Rosa: $943,000
-Petaluma East & West: $925,000 & $850,000, respectively
Source: Compass
As with the rest of the Bay Area, the North Bay real estate listings closed 2022 with an over 20-year low, according to Compass data. The heavy demand and lack of resale property has forced the average days on the market to plunge in a 3 ½-year period, from a high of 88 days in January 2020 to 40 in May 2023, according to the Compass analysis.
If you are looking to invest in North Bay real estate but cannot obtain a conventional loan, consider a private mortgage from Sun Pacific Mortgage. We have been lending in California for over 35 years and have thousands of happy homeowners who could never have achieved homeownership without our assistance. We’d be happy to help you too! Find us at www.sunpacificmortgage.com or call us at 707-523-2099.