I think you may wish to rephrase your question and ask us how much can I afford for $____________. We could answer you with much more relevant information. The "Average" vs. "Median" home price is different as a lower or higher number will skew the "Average" price. Most newspaper articles refer to "median" as this is more indicative as to "where" the action is. The higher the "median" the more the market prices are moving upwards. Remember, the median is the mid-way point of the entire market when it comes to the particular "status" of the listing. If the median is $310,000 then half of the market is below and half above.
You did not ask if you wanted the "average sold" or "Average Listed" 3 bedroom home in Petaluma. This vary dramatically. You can furher reduce it to what is REALLY selling. All sales data should be analyzed not only for bedrooms/baths, but also the area. As my good friend Mike states below, historically the Westside has fetched overall higher pricing. But you also need to explore what "Type" of sale exists. In the greater Sonoma County marketplace we have 384 sales with a whopping 85% being either foreclosed upon proeprties being liquidated by the bank, REO,those wishing to sell their homes for less than what is owed, "Short-Sale" and new home product being dumped on the market. What do these folks all have in common? NONE of them will BUY or "Move-Up" in the marketplace after the sale is done. We have basically a "dead-end" marketplace. Great opportunity for buyers but for Sellers of none of the above--very difficult and trying!
The Westside is the "historical" district and the downtown Petaluma area is to step back in time to small town Americana. It has become very vital with the influx of new development or the "Theater District" which has been nicely merged into the old.
My favorite area is the "D" street neighborhood which has some grand dames of the Victorian era in all their gilded glory. But you can't go wrong in the other areas to the north or south. If you go east it's another story as it becomes more commercial/industrial the closer it gets to the River. The Eastside has much newer development and more "production" housing. It is indicative of most production housing neighborhoods in other towns along Hwy 101, Rohnert Park,Santa Rosa and Windsor. The newer the community the more foreclosures you'll encounter. The REO or Rea Estate Owned, foreclosed upon properties, rule the roost in today's marketplace.
As you can see--much to talk about and many questons to be answered. I've got a great tool on my web site called "Market Snapshot" which allows you to pick a neighborhood and pull up all actives, solds, google earth maps, plus schools, community information. Great stuff. My web site is below.
You have picked THE PERFECT time to buy a home! 50% off! With rates under 5% if you want to pay 1% origination fees. WOW!!

Hi Catherine, I have been monitoring the sales stats for the county and have spread sheets for each area individually or the county as a whole. I have stats for all sales v.s. the bank owned and the short sales. Please let me know if you are intersted in me forwarding them to you.

Warm Regards,

Lynn Bowen
Domaine Real Estate
Sebastopol CA 707-695-3814
Lynn@DomaineRE.com http://www.LynnBowenRealEstate.com

The average price of a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Petaluma (using the sold prices within the last 30 days), is $348,255.

Now having said that, there are many factors that effect the value of properties. In Petaluma, there is a big difference between west and east, and then there are even more factors by neighborhoods/areas. If you are curious about a specific area, we can get you those numbers too. We would be happy to help!

Jerry & Amanda Arend
The Arend Group @ Rita Comstock & Associates
707.586.TEAM
RealEstateTime@aol.com

Happy Home Hunting!

Hi Catherine,

Petaluma is actually divided into two separate markets; East Petaluma and West Petaluma. Prices have been historically higher on the West side because that is where most of the older, restored homes reside, and also where they have built estate type homes on larger parcels.
The most recent statistics that would mean something would probably be those for all of 2008. The Median sold price for the East side was $409,000 and the Median sold price for the West side was $525,000.
I hope this information is what you were looking for, if not please let me know what additional questions you might have. I wish you the best of luck in your home search!

HI Catherine--the average sales price of all single-family homes sold in Petaluma last January was $377,000 for all sizes. The sample size was 77 sales so that is a small number to start dividing out by numbers of beds and baths with any kind of meaningful data. More importantly you will see large differences in average or median sales price by neighborhood, with West Petaluma homes generally being worth more than East Petaluma homes. There are larger swaths of distressed homes and more inventory in genaraly on the east side and there is torrid competition with multiple offers and sales over asking price for many but the most sorry REO (bank-owned) properties. Not sure if this answers the question behind your question but hopefully it is a start. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance. I do a lot of blogging on Sonoma County real estate market dynamics at my blog below.