From Santa Cruz to California Wine Country, Luxury Home Sales Doubled During the Pandemic

Mandion Global April 2, 2021

Lifestyle

From Santa Cruz to California Wine Country, Luxury Home Sales Doubled During the Pandemic

Luxury home sales in California’s Bay Area surged 40% during the Covid-19 pandemic, while ultra-luxury sales jumped 59%.

Santa Cruz County, south of San Francisco and San Jose, registered a 166% jump in luxury transactions in the 12 months ending March 15, as Bay Area homebuyers pushed out into the suburbs and beyond, the data showed. To the north, Sonoma saw 110% rise in deals in the same time period, while Contra Costa County, northeast of San Francisco, saw a 77% jump. Homes priced between $2 million to $2.99 million are considered luxury in those regions.

Coastal Monterey County saw the biggest spike in ultra-luxury transactions, with 117% more sales in that category for the year ending March 15, than the same time period in 2020, according to the report. Contra Costa followed with a 108% rise, while Napa and Sonoma counties registered 98% and 96% jumps, respectively. Ultra-luxury homes in those areas were defined as those priced above $3 million.

There was also a 50% year-over-year rise in the number of $5 million-plus transactions for the 12 months ending March 15.. Silicon Valley saw the most deals in that category, with San Mateo County recording 215, followed by Santa Clara County, 145; and Marin County, to the north of San Francisco, rounded out the top three with 91.

“The 12 biggest sales in the greater Bay Area over the past year ranged from $20 million to $35 million,” according to the report. “Pebble Beach in Monterey County, with four sales, had the highest number of these.”

The luxury condominium market in San Francisco was the segment that suffered the most over the year, the data showed. Deals for those units, priced $2 million to $2.99 million, were down 11% compared to the same time the previous year.

Luxury single-family homes in the city, which are priced between $3 million and $4.99 million, saw the least amount of growth of the 11 markets considered in the report. Still, it clocked 17% more deals during the pandemic than the year previous.

In addition, both ultra-luxury condos, priced at more than $3 million, and single-family homes, in excess of $5 million, saw more deals over the last year, according to the report. Condos in that category saw a 19% annual rise, with transactions for single-family homes bumping up 3%.

Home sales across all property types and prices in the greater Bay Area saw a 6% year-over-year rise, according to the report.

Meanwhile, listings are scarce.

“The months-supply-of-inventory level for Bay Area single-family dwellings is at its lowest point in at least 15 years,” according to the report. “Median days on market for [those homes] are at their lowest in at least 30 years.”