As expected, the credit crunch had a big impact on sales in September. Sales of single-family, re-sale homes fell 34% from the month before, and were off 42.3% year-over-year. Year-to-date, home sales are down 20%. We expect sales to be slow this month, then start to recover at the end of the quarter as the credit crunch is alleviated.

The median price for single-family, re-sale homes in Sonoma County rose 1.5% from August, and was off 2.7% year-over-year. The average price for homes dropped 4.9%, month-over-month, and was down 0.6% compared to last September. The median price is now down 11.`% from the high of $618,450 reached in August 2005.

The median price for condos was essentially flat, losing $25, down 7.3% compared to last September. The median price is now down 12.5% from the high of $394,000 reached in October 2005. Condo sales fell 12.8%, month-over-month, down 30.6% compared to September 2006. Year-to-date, condo sales are down 13.3%.