Living in the Napa Valley and selling real estate here, the value per acre for vineyard land is a constant topic brought up. When I first started selling real estate here, and I am really dating myself, the first prices I can remember were around $40,000 per acre for vineyards which were consider good to very good in quality and $60,000 per acre for the premium stuff.

During the recent real estate boom, the highest price I have ever heard of was nearly $325,000 per acre but this was truly an exception. Most of the premium vineyards during 2004 to 2006 were around $250,000 per acre. Given the recent turn of events in real estate and the glut in wine grapes, one would think prices for vineyard land would be down nearly the same 40 to 50 per cent as is the case for many other real estate values here.

But this is not the case. An acre of prime Napa Valley vineyard has been selling consistently for around $250,000 per acre and in one of the most published recent sales, December 2010, Andy Beckstoffer paid between $3.6 and $3.9 million for 13.25 acres. This was no ordinary vineyard but the renown Bourn/Hayne Vineyard just south of the City of St. Helena. Depending on the actual price paid, this is very close to $300,000 per acre. Though Beckstoffer would not disclose the actual price he paid, he did say the price “was probably the second highest price for land that I’ve ever heard of in the Napa Valley.” The only other property he knew was higher is the price Francis Ford Coppola paid for the Inglenook property.

In comparison to some other areas in California for vineyard land, Napa commands by far the highest in the state. From an article in yesterdays Napa Register here are some prices per acre of vineyard land in the state:

• Sonoma County as high as $125,000
• Monterey County topped out at $38,000
• San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties $57,000

Many properties sold here are sold based upon the amount of “plantable land” there is. Often sellers will hire one of the local vineyard development companies to do a survey of their land and develop a plantable area map and then price the property based upon this figure. Generally, non-planted vineyard land is going somewhere between $50,000 to $125,000 per acre.

Many properties here in the Napa Valley are sold as a second, third home sites and there is a very large value given for this portion of the sale. This figure can be $500,000 for a home site in a peripheral area to $1,500,000 or more for one located in a prime area.  Since nothing over 30 degrees slope can be developed or replanted and Napa County requires an Erosion Control Plan for planting land between 5 and 30 degrees slope which costs tens of thousands of dollars and can take up to three years to complete, there truly is a limited amount of land that can become vineyards.

Though the above figures above are only for vineyard land only, you can quickly begin to do the math for many estate properties with vineyards or vineyard potential and hopefully you will get a better understand of the pricing dynamics for “vineyard properties” here in the Napa Valley. I know this may be discouraging for some of us who would like to have that small vineyard estate, but there is always the wine. We can sit upon our favorite knoll, sip some of the best nectar in the world and daydream while over looking heaven. Prost!

Thank you for reading this post. If I can ever be of help in finding you the perfect property here in the Napa Valley, please email me at Curtis@NapaValleyAddress.com. 

Your Broker Extraordinaire, selling Napa Valley Real Estate from its heart, Yountville.

Hi

I am going to start a new periodic series called “Great Real Estate Values in the Napa Valley”. The first one is a property located between Angwin and Deer Park at 1400 Deer Park Road. It is approximately 3 miles up the hill from the blinking light intersection of Silverado Trail and Deer Park Road. The feature that makes this property so special are the views. Granted, this being three stories, it will not be the right home for many of you, but being on 1.71 acres, 2,911 SF and having 5 bedrooms and 4 full baths, (all per Realist Tax records) it is a lot of house for the $489,000 price.

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 21100280 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 1, price reduced 4, sale pending 2,  sold 0

new listing         2000 Oak Cir, $1,545,000, 3 br 3 ba, 2,720 sf

price reduced  1935 Oak Cir, $606,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,176 sf

                               204 Vista Ct, $649,950, 2 br 2 ba, 1,154 sf

                               1887 Mulberry St, $735,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,663 sf

                               1 Grant Ln, $790,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,754 sf

new pending

new sold             

median prices, average days on market

current for sale             31 med price $839,000; avg days on market 163

current sale pendings   2  med price $674,500; avg days on market 54

sold in last 6 months   12 med price $667,000; avg days on market 112

Facts, numbers, SF from BAREIS and/or Napa County tax records,  accuracy is not guaranteed

Reprinted from The California Association of Realtors Newsline

The median home price of an existing single family home in California rose 14.1 percent to $279,840 in February compared with February 2009 and home sales decreased 11.7 percent during the same period C.A.R. reported yesterday. 

“The federal tax credit for home buyers, low mortgage rates, and affordability at record levels have contributed to an unprecedented opportunity for many first-timers in the market for a home of their own,” said C.A.R. President Steve Goddard. “Although sales have declined from the unusually strong levels we experienced a year ago, they’ve remained above the 500,000-unit threshold for 18 consecutive months, while home prices continue to firm in the regions of the state most attractive to buyers taking advantage of today’s favorable market conditions.”

While existing-home sales are up 7.0% from February 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau reports today that sales of new single-family homes dropped 2.2% from January 2010 and a drastic 13.0% from February 2009.

NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN FEBRUARY 2010

STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 1, price reduced 3, sale pending 2,  sold 0

new listing        1577 Centennial Cir, $675,000, 3 br 2 ba, 2,208 sf

price reduced  3901 Lake Co Hwy, $535,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,462 sf

                             1301 Cedar St, $695,000, 3 br 3 ba, 1,600 sf

                             1166 Maple Ln $850,000, 3 br 2 ba, 2,222 sf

new pending    1904 Carli Dr, $370,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,432 sf

                              1446 3rd St, $425,000,  2 br 1 ba, 1,198 sf

new sold

median prices, average days on market

current for sale            52 med price $1,089,000; avg days on market 250

current sale pendings   3 med price $425,000; avg days on market 25

sold in last 6 months   13 med price $350,000; avg days on market 164

STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 0, price reduced 1, sale pending 0,  sold 1

new listing

price reduced  6922 Yount St, $595,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,646 sf

new pending

new sold            43 Lande Way, $900,000, 3 br 3 ba, 2,195 sf

median prices, average days on market

current for sale             22 med price $1,022,450; avg days on market 159

current sale pendings   1 med price $659,000; avg days on market 36

sold in last 6 months   12 med price $617,500; avg days on market 167

STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 4, price reduced 2, sale pending 3, sold 1

 new listing      1820 Granger Way, $595,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,315 sf

                             1263 Allyn Ave, $2,295,000, 0 br 1 ba, 1,400 sf

                             4 Bournemouth Rd, $3,795,000, 3 br 4 ba, 4,754 sf

                             2470 Spring Mtn Rd, $4,495,000, 3 br 5 ba, 3,914 sf

price reduced  1791 Vineyard Ave, $759,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,459 sf

                            839 Charter Oak Ave, $1,018,500, 1 br 1ba, 782 sf

new pending 1413 Tainter St, $750,000, 2 br 1 ba, 1,223 sf

                            690 Crystal Springs Rd, $875,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,600 sf

                           756 Zinfandel Ln, $997,500, 2 br 1 ba, 1,425 sf

new sold         1125 Fulton Ln, $300,000, 1 br 1 ba, 752 sf

median prices, average days on market

current for sale             70 med price $1,520,000; avg days on market 184

current sale pendings   6  med price  $998,250; avg days on market 140

sold in last 6 months    33 med price  $850,000; avg days on market 160

STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 4, price reduced 4, sale pending 1,  sold 1

new listing        1432 Lake St, $359,000, 2 br 1 ba, 1,021 sf

                              1904 Carli Dr, $370,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,432 sf

                              2019 Tablerock Ct, $425,000, 2 br 1 ba, 1,198 sf

                              n/a, $699,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,957 sf

price reduced  1884 Mora Ave, $725,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,612 sf

                             1391 Tucker Rd, $1,079,000, 2 br 1 ba, n/a sf

                             280 Franz Vly School Rd, $2,000,000, 1 br 1 ba, 404 sf

                             369 Kortum Cyn Rd, $6,950,000, 3 br 6 ba, 7,500 sf

new pending     1314 Berry St, $525,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,479 sf                             

new sold              1700 Mora Ave, $2,125,000, 3 br 3 ba, 3,131 sf

median prices, average days on market

current for sale            55 med price $995,000; avg days on market 233

current sale pendings   1 med price $525,000; avg days on market 38

sold in last 6 months   14 med price $342,500; avg days on market 118