Strong Sonoma, Marin home sales gains lag San Francisco Bay Area growth in January, trade group says

Sonoma and Marin plus two smaller North Bay counties had double-digit growth in home sales in January from a year ago, but Solano and Napa counties led the region in annual price growth for the month, according to a trade group report Friday.

Sonoma and Marin counties had 20.5% and 17.3% growth, respectively, in home transactions in January from a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors.

Those two counties as well as Napa have seen particular interest in home purchases by workers relocating from urban areas of the San Francisco Bay Area to suburban areas during the coronavirus pandemic.

Napa County transactions rose nearly 2% over the year.

The Bay Area had the fastest annual growth in the state for the month, with a 31.8% jump in sales. The region’s median price also jumped, up 20.2% to $1.025 million. California overall had a 22.5% increase in transactions over 12 months, and the media price jumped 21.7% to nearly $700,000.

"Despite an economy that's slow to recover, the momentum from late last year continued into January, driven by strong growth in California's core housing markets, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the higher cost areas experienced the most sales growth," said association President Dave Walsh, vice president and manager of the Compass San Jose office, in the report announcement. "Home prices continued to power through the traditional slow season in January with the largest annual price gain in nearly seven years."

But Sonoma and Napa counties’ median prices rose 7.2% and 19.7%, respectively, to $715,000 and $835,000.

The other North Bay counties with double-digit sales growth were Mendocino and Lake, with transactions up 35.3% and 17.8%, respectively, while prices jumped 25.6% and 18.6% to $517,000 and $300,000.

The number of Solano County transactions was just under 1% higher over 12 months, but the median price jumped 13.4% to $510,000.

"With the COVID-19 vaccine continuing to roll out, another fiscal stimulus relief package likely on the way and historically low interest rates, the housing market will continue to thrive," said association Vice President and Chief Economist Jordan Levine. "The market outlook is stronger than previously projected as buyer demand continues to outstrip supply, but we do expect the current robust market growth to decelerate later this year as the housing shortage intensifies."