Sonoma County luxury homes and estates offer beautiful settings and a great value in Wine Country.  There are currently 19 Sonoma County properties on the market with an asking price over $4,000,000. Here are this week’s Top 10 Sonoma County luxury homes and estates offered for sale as of July 11, 2012.  Visit our Wine Country MLS Search page and enter the property address to view the MLS listing for each property.  Contact me if you have any questions or if I may assist with your search of Sonoma County luxury homes, land and estates.  john@jsrealproperty.com   Top 10 Sonoma County Luxury Homes and Estates City List Price Bed/Bath Sq. Feet Acres Location Calistoga $35,000,000 3/3.5 9,700 500 10500 Franz Valley Rd Santa Rosa $10,950,000 4/4.5 6,200 197.5 1888 Crystal Springs Ct Sonoma $... 07/11/2012

Sonoma County vineyards produce some of the finest California wines and provide some of the most beautiful scenery in Northern California. Here are listings of Sonoma County agricultural land and vineyards for sale as of July 7, 2012.  Drop me a line for more information and to schedule a site visit. (john@jsrealproperty.com )  You can view the MLS listing for these properties, click on Wine Country MLS Search and enter the address and property type.  There are also properties not for sale in the MLS, drop me a line for additional properties in your area of interest.   City Price Location Acres Notes Bodega Bay $2,975,000 4800 Hyw 1 Hwy 223.4 Ocean view Bodega Bay $4,450,000 20019-20501 Coleman Valley Rd 754.8 Ocean view Calistoga $850,000 8460 Franz Valley School Rd #C 10 Chardonnay pl... 07/08/2012

Sonoma County luxury homes and estates offer both a beautiful setting and a great value in the Wine Country region.  There are currently 19 Sonoma County properties on the market with an asking price over $4,000,000. Here are this week’s Top 10 Sonoma County luxury homes and estates offered for sale as of July 3, 2012.  Visit our Wine Country MLS Search page and enter the property address to view the MLS listing for each property.  Contact me if you have any questions or if I may assist with your search of Sonoma County luxury homes, land and estates.  john@jsrealproperty.com       Top 10 Sonoma County Luxury Homes and Estates City List Price Bed/Bath Sq. Feet Acres Location Calistoga $35,000,000 3/3.5 9,700 500 10500 Franz Valley Rd Santa Rosa $10,950,000 4/4.5 6,200 197.5 1888 Crystal... 07/03/2012

Sonoma County vineyards produce some of the finest California wines and provide some of the most beautiful scenery in Northern California. Here are listings of Sonoma County agricultural land and vineyards for sale as of June 28, 2012.  Drop me a line for more information and to schedule a site visit. (john@jsrealproperty.com )  You can view the MLS listing for these properties, click on Wine Country MLS Search and enter the address and property type.  There are also properties not for sale in the MLS, drop me a line for additional properties in your area of interest. City Price Location Acres Notes Bodega Bay $2,975,000 4800 Hyw 1 Hwy 223.4 Ocean view Bodega Bay $4,450,000 20019-20501 Coleman Valley Rd 754.8   Calistoga $850,000 8460 Franz Valley School Rd #C 10 Knights Valley Calistog... 06/28/2012

As of June 6, 2012 48% of available listings in the beautiful wine country town of Sonoma are in escrow. For the month of May 2012 42 homes (18 of which were distress sales) sold in Sonoma for an average final selling price of $499,367. The average original asking price of these homes was $542,044. The range of final selling prices was from a low of $140,000 to a high of $1,925,000. Of the 42 homes that sold 5 sold at their original asking prices and 11 sold over their original asking prices. 21 of the 42 homes were paid by cash--no loans. It took these homes an average of 135 days to sell. To see everything that is currently for sale through our MLS click here and register with me as your agent. To learn more about this area in general, search more around this blog, visit my website or... 06/08/2012

As of May 14, 2012 a whopping 50% of available listings in the beautiful wine country town of Sonoma are in escrow. For the month of April 2012 an impressive 41 homes (17 of which were distress sales) sold for an average final selling price of $506,449. The average original asking price of these homes was $549,414. The range of final selling prices was from a low of $140,000 to a high of $1,925,000. Of the 41 homes that sold, 5 sold at their original asking prices and 11 sold over their original asking prices. It took these homes an average of 137 days to sell. To see everything that is for sale through our MLS, click here, and register with me (Kelley Eling) as your agent. To learn more about the area in general, search more around this blog, visit my website, or contact me directly. S... 05/15/2012

Is It Time to Sell Your Sonoma Home? The number of Sonoma homes for sale continues at a seven year low while the number of properties going into contract continues to rise. Historical perspectives are useful for both Sonoma home buyers and sellers.  The outlook for buyers is clearly a challenge once you study the chart below.  For Sonoma sellers it's a more promising time to list than at any time in recent years.   Our shortage of listings should be an incentive for these sellers to make their move.  So why aren't they?      *All reports are published Apr. 2012, based on data available at the end of Mar. 2012. All reports presented are based on data supplied by BAREIS MLS. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or is in anyway responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the... 04/07/2012

As of March 8, 2012 a very impressive 46% of available homes for sale are in escrow. For the month of February 2012 36 homes sold in Sonoma (16 of which were distress sales) for an average final selling price of $577,036. The average original asking price of these homes wa s$615,457. The range of final selling prices was from a low of $80,000 to a high of $3,150,000. Of the 36 homes that sold 5 sold at their original asking prices and 9 sold over their original asking prices. It took these homes an average of 114 days to sell. To see all homes that are currently available for sale through our MLS sign in here under my name. To learn more about specific properties or this area in general freel free to contact me. Rin's Thai Restaurant on East Napa in Sonoma by Kelley Eling, Marin County ... 03/09/2012

As of February 8, 2012 43% of available listings in the beautiful wine country town of Sonoma are in escrow. For the month of January 2012 28 homes (16 of which were distress sales) sold in Sonoma for an average final selling price of $652,193. The average original asking price of these homes was $926,789. The range of final selling prices was from a low of $149,000 to a high of $6,315,000. Of the 28 homes that sold 4 sold at their original asking prices and 1 sold over its original asking price. It took these homes an average of 139 days to sell. To see everything that is currently available for sale through our MLS click here. To learn more about this area in general search more around this blog, visit my website or contact me directly. 02/08/2012

- Sonoma Homes for Sale - February 7, 2012 - 2012 is off to a busy start in Sonoma Valley real estate sales with 92 listings under contract for purchase.  Our inventory of available properties remains scant with only 150 active listings up for grabs.  Inventory is typically light this time of year but this February we are at a six year low.   So what's on the market in Sonoma?  According to the Bay Area Real Estate Information Service (BAREIS) the breakdown of 150 listings looks like this: BAREIS data provides greater detail on our inventory including the averages and median statistics for available listings: I'm often asked to explain "DOM" and "CDOM."  So here's the deal.  The first is Days on Market with the current listing broker.  CDOM means Cumulative Days on Market---the amount o... 02/07/2012

Am I Lucky or What!?! I am absolutely terrible when it comes to taking pictures when I'm on a job... I walk in the door and am so focused on getting the job at hand done, I completely forget to get good before and after pictures... Today was moving day... a couple in the midst of a divorce had sold their $3+million dollar home in San Francisco's tony Pacific Heights neighborhood and so most items (carefully packed by PHA and color-coded between his, hers, and community property) were going into storage. Still other items were tagged for donations and those to be sold by an antique dealer. However, there were 22 boxes of her personal items to be moved to their Sonoma County residence (that is also a multi-million dollar property currently on market) for her to use and enjoy until that pr... 01/26/2012

Living in Sonoma with the Chinese "Sacred Lily"   The graceful beauty of this early blooming Narcissus has been a joyful sight every Winter that I've lived in Sonoma Valley.   I remember as a child seeing bunches of them in the hands of visitors stopping by to deliver Christmas cheer.   This year they are arriving in January, delayed---I'm guessing---by a lack of seasonal rain.  But here they are, anyway, in their dependable and determined way.  Living in Sonoma with Nature's bounty is such a privilege---every day!     01/13/2012

As of January 9, 2012 41% of available listings in the beautiful wine country town of Sonoma are in escrow. For the month of December 2011 31 homes sold in Sonoma (15 of which were distress sales) for an average final selling price of $503,125. The average original asking price of these homes was $542,581. The range of final selling prices was from a low of $165,000 to a high of $3,100,000. Of the 31 homes that sold 3 sold at their original asking prices and 7 sold over their original asking prices. It took these homes an average of 117 days to sell. To see everything that is currently available for sale through our MLS click here. To learn more about this area feel free to contact me directly. 01/09/2012

~ Six Year Low for Sonoma Real Estate Listings ~ The supply of active real estate listings in Sonoma County is at a six year low.  This isn't any surprise to the buyers with whom I've been working lately.  They know there just aren't many homes to chose from.  It's especially difficult to find single level homes in Sonoma or properties for folks with specific requirements like a large level backyard for kids.  The chart below provides the big picture for real estate listings in Sonoma County in terms of months of available inventory.  It's provided by Trendgraphix using data from our multiple listing service, Bay Area Real Estate Information Services. We have not seen much in the way of new listings since the beginning of 2012.  Seems to me this could be a very good time for Sellers who... 01/09/2012

~ January 2012 Sonoma Homes for Sale ~ A year ago today there were 157 homes for sale in Sonoma.  Right now, the number of active Sonoma listings sits at 142.  Sonoma's residential listing inventory is low---just as it is in most markets around the country.   The majority of available properties, or nearly 4 out of 5,  are non-distressed listings.  Bargain-minded buyers are clearly choosing to purchase distressed properties over non-distressed.  More than 75% of all listings under contract  involve Sonoma REOs or Sonoma short sales. This last chart shows that just a "baker's dozen" of sales are pending as we begin the new year.  More than half of the pending sales are distressed properties, either short sales or bank-owned. Our spring selling season starts in March.  I expect to see inv... 01/03/2012

As of December 9, 2011 38% of available listings in the beautiful wine country town of Sonoma are in escrow. For the month of November 2011 31 homes (15 of which were distress sales) sold in Sonoma for an average final selling price of $476,682. The average original asking price of these homes was $507,585. The range of final selling prices was from a low of $163,350 to a high of $2,200,000. Of the 31 homes that sold 1 sold at its original asking price and 9 sold over their original asking prices. It took these homes an average of 171 days to sell. To see everything that is currently available for sale through our MLS click here. To learn more about this area in general, search more around this blog, visit my website, or contact me directly. The Cedar Mansion in downtown Sonoma by Kelle... 12/09/2011

~ Wordless Wednesday - An Acorn Woodpecker's Winter Stash ~ 11/16/2011

~ Sales Up 30% As Sonoma Home Prices Decline ~ Sales of single family homes in Sonoma County were up nearly 30% in October 2011 over sales in October 2010.  According to my friends at the Sonoma County Real Estate Report, sales in October rose nearly 7% from where they were in September.   Those are some pretty significant gains in units traded.   Also noteworthy were the declines in median sale prices of Sonoma County homes.  Year-to-year, county-wide, the decline was almost 10%.  The median sale price in October dropped 11.6% from the median in September. The chart above shows inconsistent sales activity from town to town or in different micro-markets throughout Sonoma County.  This is an excellent illustration of why regional reports often fail to provide accurate information about m... 11/15/2011

~ See What We Love About Living in Sonoma in the Autumn ~ I looked in my rear view mirror as I was passing through Bennett Valley on a late November day.  What an amazing Autumn landscape!   I pulled over at the driveway into  Mayacama Winery, took off my shoes, and climbed onto the roof of my car.   It was slippery up there in my socks.  The wind was biting and nasty.   But I didn't care because my heart was on fire with love for the incredible beauty.  Have you ever seen blazing vineyards?  It is such a joy to live in Sonoma County. 11/13/2011

Will Sonoma Home Prices come Roaring Back? California home prices may rise dramatically in the not too distant future, according to a group of highly respected California economists.   This forecast is something Sonoma home buyers should be taking into account as they consider whether to buy now or later.   I've been showing a lot of Sonoma real estate lately---entry level homes, second homes in Sonoma, and beautiful wine country estates.  Buyers have been reluctant to make offers.  It's understandable, with all the gloomy news about the U.S. and European economies.  But the fact is this is a good time to buy if you see a property that "sings to you."  Prices are lower than they've been in nearly a decade.  Interest rates remain incredibly low.   And if the UCLA economists are right and... 11/11/2011