The rate of homes being purchased in west Petaluma has seen a significant jump this year, increasing 22 percent throughout the first eight months of 2017 in comparison to the same time period last year. 

According to a Press Democrat report, no other community in Sonoma County has a double-digit jump in home sales in 2017. 

Locals regularly cite the attractiveness of Petaluma’s downtown area as one of the explanations for the growth. Furthermore, the city remains an appealing option for both younger and older buyers. This could be due to the fact that the median price of $755,000 for west Petaluma homes is still lower than median prices in San Francisco and San Mateo counties, where homes regularly exceed $1.2 million.

Northwest Santa Rosa ranked second behind west Petaluma in the county, with a sales increase of seven percent this year. In Sonoma County’s more expensive communities, such as Sebastopol and the Coastal Region, sales declined by four percent and 17 percent, respectively.