Storied Napa Valley Not Immune From Foreclosure Crisis
For many residents of this, one of the most storied valleys in the world, life is still a bowl of grapes. But beyond the picturesque vineyards and stonewalled estates, times are shaky. Tourists sipping their way up the 30-mile (50-kilometer) valley from the city of Napa to Calistoga may never see this other Napa Valley. But this celebrated wine country is proof that there are few places in the U.S. left unsmacked by the housing crisis. Beautiful Napa is experiencing foreclosures, plunging housing prices, unheard of drops in home sales and the nervous sense of foreboding that has spread across the country like a flu.
In the nine county San Francisco Bay area, where home sales tumbled in January to their lowest levels in 20 years, Napa County suffered the sharpest drop of all — more than 55 percent from a year earlier, according to Dataquick Information Systems, a real estate research firm. In the same period, houses at any stage of foreclosure jumped by 152.9 percent.
But the city of Napa, which is both the county seat and the largest population center with 75,0000 residents, and its lesser-known neighbor, American Canyon, are where Napa’s working people live, and they are bearing the brunt of the housing crash, not to mention its collateral damage versus Saint Helena, Calistoga and Yountville.
American Canyon, known for the visitors center that is the usual first stop on the Route 29 wine trail, is a new town. It incorporated in 1992 and grew from 6,000 people in 1999 to over 14,000 residents in 2007. But excitement over fast-sprouting single-family-home developments has given way to concern over unsold houses and languishing businesses. Houses in new developments are already for sale — either because of foreclosure or because the owners are threatened with it — even as developers are still building the rest of the planned sites.
Perhaps the best bellwether of the times is the city of Napa, which has spent the last seven or so years playing catch up with Yountville, St. Helena and its other illustrious neighbors. Within seven years, median housing prices in Napa rose 99 percent, to $550,000 last June ($532,500 now), according to DataQuick. But the people who flocked to the city seeking refuge from the million-dollar houses in San Francisco, Marin and other parts of Napa County are now seeing the same flurry of “for sale” signs that are hitting so many other once-booming cities across the country. Downtown Napa is still a maze of construction as developers proceed apace with plans for more than $300 million in new stores, offices and condominiums. Napa continues to position itself as the best investment in all of northern California. With the recent price decline coupled with all the momentum in downtown Napa now is the time to double down on Napa.
Contact Mike Bolen 707-254-9999 or Mike@MikeBolen.com and I can direct you to one of my professional agents who specialize not just in commercial and investment property but in Napa as well.
