Rohnert Park has the highest percentage of bank owned home sales in Sonoma County. As of the end of November, 2008, almost 54% of Rohnert Park’s residential transactions were REO sales. There are many reasons why a city like Rohnert Park would be having such a hard time, but in many ways, the current market is due to the success of Rohnert Park in the earlier part of this decade. RP and Cotati have been desirable communities for many years, so the demand for housing here has been strong for a long time. During the bubble’s peak from 2004 to 2006, people chased the value of houses higher and higher as mortgage lenders produced more creative ways to keep initial payments artificially low. Agents, myself included, were carried along with the crowd’s belief in ever-increasing values. Well, we’re all aware that we were wrong.
In any case, the market has been in a big correction. Whether we are near the bottom is anyone’s guess, but buyers are out in force looking for bargains. I don’t think we would be seeing the multiple offers if today’s pricing wasn’t an attractive level for investors and buyers alike. Here’s a slide show of some of the listings active today.
Slideshow of REO Properties in and around Rohnert Park
-from $100,000 to $300,000