Sales of single-family homes on Petaluma’s Westside outperformed all others, reporting a leap of 18% to close February at $640 per square foot.
When markets turn in either direction, there are typically choppy data points as the data churns ahead to form a trend line.
February was a great example of that.
According to the most recent data collected by BAREIS MLS, Sonoma County shows an average sold price per-square-foot (PSF) of $524 being paid for a single-family home – 2% lighter than last year at this time – exposing the rocky fits and starts experienced throughout 2024, where the highest average sold value for any month was $1,126,000 while February 2025’s average sold prices trailed at $1,034,000.
Of the 15 different sub-markets of Sonoma County, only seven of these presented improved values over the same period a year ago. Sales of single-family homes on Petaluma’s Westside outperformed all others, reporting a leap of 18% to close February at $640 PSF, while our stunning Pacific Coastal region forged ahead 10% to $800 PSF. Healdsburg along with Northwest Santa Rosa rallied 5% from this time last year to close the period at $655 PSF and $484 PSF, respectively. Rising 3% – though on very minimal volume – Cloverdale saw closed values at $546 PSF this year, while Petaluma’s Eastside chipped in another 2% as the average price paid registered at $487 PSF.
Holding near neutral from a year earlier, Sebastopol along with the Russian River region saw sales through the door at $573 PSF and $453 PSF, respectively. Northeast Santa Rosa trimmed 2% off last year at this same time to close at $490 PSF, while Oakmont surrendered 4% as properties changed hands at $428 PSF.
Slipping 5% from a year ago, Cotati & Rohnert Park witnessed sales cross the finish line at $407 PSF while Windsor sacrificed 7% to $476 PSF. Southeast Santa Rosa shed 8% with the average home trading at $479 PSF; and, in the cellar this month – on pretty average sales figures – the city of Sonoma along with its neighbors in the valley, Glen Ellen and Kenwood, found sales in February closing at 34% less with the average deal reportedly done at $547 PSF.
Inventory levels of available homes are on the rise and that is a very healthy component to a market trying to eclipse two years of rather flat sales volume – both 2023 and 2024 sank so far as to be equivalent to where transaction levels were 30 years ago when our countywide population had about 70,000 fewer residents.
We are also seeing classic buyer behavior in our market over the last year in this chart, as you can see the impact of interest rates rising and falling, then rising then falling again, and how the rate changes impact buying demand in some niches of the marketplace where higher levels of financing are typical.
Another sign of a market improvement is that closed deals are already 12% ahead of last year, and we all know you can’t sell something you don’t have!
Jeff Schween, a “top 1% Realtor at Compass,” provides market insights for The Press Democrat in this weekly column. You can reach him through his website at SantaRosaFineHomes.com.