Santa Rosa, California Housing Market

How much can you negotiate in Santa Rosa?

Only 39 out of every 100 homes for sale have found a buyer. The other 61 are still waiting. Your offer may be the only one on the table. About 1 in 5 sellers has already dropped their price. Each one has learned their first price was too high. Start below their new price, not their old one.

A typical Santa Rosa home takes 44 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 60+ days ago. There are 402 homes for sale in Santa Rosa. That is 4.5 times the tightest month on record, but below the peak of 496. Supply is shrinking against last year.

What to do about it

• Start in 95404, 95403, and 95409. Those are the three softest ZIP codes in Santa Rosa.
• Filter for homes listed 60+ days ago that have already cut their price.
• Offer below the reduced price.
• Keep your inspection and financing contingencies.
• In 95404 only 26 out of 100 homes have a buyer. You can lose a few offers there and still win.

Is now a good time to buy in Santa Rosa?

Asking prices are 14.3% below their May 2023 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are rising again. Every month you wait costs money. The question is no longer when. It is which house. Santa Rosa prices rose in only 73 of the last 108 months. This market goes up and down. Timing matters here. Growth will not rescue a bad price.

This market is turning. Which way is not settled yet. Check the monthly numbers above before you commit.

What numbers should you underwrite a Santa Rosa deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +2.7%/yr. 1 year: +0.5% · 5 years: +2.7% · ten years: +3.4%. The five-year and ten-year rates agree. That is a durable trend, not a boom artifact. It is a fair long-run input. Measure growth per square foot, not on the median. The median moves when the mix of listed homes moves. Your house does not. The one-year rate is a timing signal. It is not an underwriting input.
• Months of carrying cost — 2. A typical home takes 44 days to sell. Budget that long when you exit or refinance.
• Odds you cut your price to sell — 1 in 5. About 20% of homes on the Santa Rosa market right now have already cut their asking price. Assume you are one of them when you sell. Do not underwrite an exit at your asking price.
• Comp on this, not median price — $483/sqft. The average listing runs +28% above the median. Luxury homes skew it. Comp your own size class per sqft.
• Competition when you exit — -12%. That is how much the number of homes for sale shrank in a year. Your resale will face a smaller crowd than today's comps did.

Is Santa Rosa a buyer's or seller's market in 2026?

Yes, if you negotiate. Buyers have the upper hand in Santa Rosa right now. 0.39 out of every 100 homes for sale have a buyer, 20% of sellers have cut their price, and a typical home takes 44 days to sell.

Are Santa Rosa home prices going up or down?

Asking prices are 14.3% below their May 2023 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are rising again. Every month you wait costs money. The question is no longer when. It is which house.

What price growth should I assume for Santa Rosa?

+2.7%/yr. 1 year: +0.5% · 5 years: +2.7% · ten years: +3.4%. The five-year and ten-year rates agree. That is a durable trend, not a boom artifact. It is a fair long-run input. Measure growth per square foot, not on the median. The median moves when the mix of listed homes moves. Your house does not. The one-year rate is a timing signal. It is not an underwriting input.

How fast are homes selling in Santa Rosa?

A typical Santa Rosa home takes 44 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 60+ days ago.

Which Santa Rosa ZIP code has the most negotiating room?

95404. Only 26 out of 100 homes there have a buyer, 21% have cut their price, and a typical home takes 47 days to sell.