Petaluma Home Prices Rise

Sonoma County's housing market lost a some of its holiday season robustness in January, though prices continue to outpace those from a year prior, a real estate information service reported.

The median home price rose by nearly 20 percent in Sonoma County from January 2012 to January 2013, DataQuick reported. The median home price for the county last month was $340,000, up from $285,000 in January 2012.

It's expected the median home price in Petaluma will increase by almost 7 percent this year, a recent study predicted.

But the number of home sales in Sonoma County actually declined when comparing January 2012 to last month: 398 homes sold in Janary 2013, down 6 percent from 423 sales a year ago.

A total of 172 homes were sold in Petaluma over the past 90 days, according to Zillow.com. See some of the most recent homes sold here.

Throughout the nine-county Bay Area tracked by DataQuick, home prices and the volume of sales completed in January were the in six years and the tenth straight year-over-year increase in the median sale price.

The median price paid for a home in the Bay Area was $415,000 in January. That was down 6.3 percent from $442,750 in December, and up 27.3 percent from $326,000 in January a year ago, according to DataQuick.

Bay Area Housing Stats for January Sales Volume Median Price County Jan 2012 Jan 2013 % Change Jan 2012 Jan 2013 % Change Alameda 1,097 1,196 9% $295,000 $385,000 30.5% Contra Costa 1,115 1,165 4.5% $235,000 $301,500 28.3% Marin 191 181 -5.2% $523,000 $640,000 22.4% Napa 93 108 16.1% $332,500 $380,000 14.3% Santa Clara 1,183 1,115 -5.7% $418,000 $550,000 31.6% San Francisco 308 394 27.9% $602,500 $699,000 16% San Mateo 412 421 2.2% $465,000 $600,500 29.1% Solano 508 523 3.0% $179,500 $219,000 21.8% Sonoma 423 398 -5.9% $285,000 $340,000 19.3% Bay Area 5,330 5,501 3.2% $326,000 $415,000 27.3%