This past week has seen an upward turn in interest rates.
This morning, they were at 5.2 percent, which is up from 4.8 percent just a couple of weeks ago. There is a lot of activity in the market right now and it is early in the season.
Historically low interest rates, coupled with this great weather, has home buyers out looking.
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“I had about six good groups of buyers come through on Super Bowl Sunday,” said Vicki Thiessen of in Healdsburg. "There are also a lot of multiple offers coming in on homes at the bottom of the market."
OPEN HOUSES, This Sunday 1-4 PM
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1441 Prentice Drive, $439,000. 4/2.5 Coldwell Banker - Santa Rosa
106 Parkwoods Court, $529,000. 3/2 , Healdsburg
107 Parkwoods Court, $599,000. 4/3 Century 21 Northbay Alliance, Healdsburg
1469 So. Fitch Mountain Rd. 749,000. 3/2 CPS, Healdsburg
523 Mason St., $750,000, 3/2 Stornetta Realty, Santa Rosa
626 Coghlan Rd. $1,374,000. 4/3 Healdsburg
515-517 Prince St. $635,000. 2 Homes, one lot, Century 21 Northbay Alliance
370 Arabian Way, $559,000. 4/3 CPS, Healdsburg
391 Parkland Farms Blvd, $550,000, CPS Healdsburg
A big topic of conversation this week at the brokers' meeting involves the proposed restrictions on vacation rentals within Sonoma County's Land Intensive Agriculture zoning.
A public hearing on the matter is set for 2 p.m. March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Santa Rosa.
Ken Spadoni, a real estate broker and owner of in Healdsburg, said the restrictions are an issue because some of the properties in the LIA zoning are too small for the permitted use of agriculture, such as wine grape growing.
“When the LIA zone was formally adopted, it was meant to create a zoning designation that related to the predominate use for the land within that zone --namely agriculture," Spadoni said. "The production of wine grape varietals is by far the most predominant agricultural use within the LIA zoned properties to date.
"The reality is that many--if not most--of the properties within the LIA are too small to be made into viable agricultural entities," Spadoni added. "The permit and resource management department at the County of Sonoma is urging that the LIA zoned properties be excluded from operating a vacation rental using an existing dwelling unit."
Spadoni said such an exclusion would curtail tourism activity.
"In order to keep agriculture in our county alive and well, we need to encourage tourism, the county’s second largest source of revenue stream," Spadoni said. "An active vacation rental program not only is a perfect adjunct to the farming activity, it helps to provide revenue for local business and helps our government coffers through the collection of T.O.T. [transient occupancy tax, or hotel room] taxes.
"Prohibiting LIA-zoned properties from participation in a vacation rental program is bad for agriculture, bad for tourism, bad for our local businesses," Spadoni said.
