SAN JOSE, Calif. — The deadly wildfires that roared through Sonoma and Napa counties last week, destroying thousands of homes, might also scorch the Bay Area’s already brutal housing market for months or years to come, experts warned Friday.

An estimated 2,800 homes have been destroyed in the wind-whipped infernos in Santa Rosa alone, and a total of about 5,700 homes have been lost in Northern California – a catastrophe that potentially leaves several thousand people to determine whether to eventually resume living on their devastated properties or to move elsewhere.

A swimming pool sits amid the charred remains of a home Monday in Santa Rosa, Calif. An estimated 2,800 homes have been destroyed by wildfires in Santa Rosa alone. Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

As a result, an already strained housing market – whose grim signature is skyrocketing home prices – could soon become even tighter as displaced residents begin scouting for places to live until their homes can be rebuilt, or they decide to relocate.

“It’s already a tight housing market, one where home prices have risen a lot over the last few years,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist with CoreLogic, which tracks the residential market.

“And apartments are tough. Rents are up. Prices are up. Rental vacancies are well below the national rates.”

This adds up to a challenging hunt for a place to live, even temporarily, for those forced from their homes.

“We are losing about 4 percent to 5 percent of the housing stock in the (Santa Rosa) area,” said Oscar Wei, a senior economist with the California Association of Realtors. “This will cut into the supply, short term.”

Compared to the entire Bay Area, Santa Rosa’s roughly 2,800 lost homes is a small portion – 0.1 percent – of the housing in the entire nine-county region. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American FactFinder, the Bay Area had 2.8 million residential units in 2015, the most recent year available.

But it’s much more of an impact in Santa Rosa. The destruction of the roughly 2,800 homes represents 4 percent of the Sonoma County city’s 67,000 residential units.

The combined loss for those residential structures is likely to be staggering. Realty experts say the median price of homes in Santa Rosa during August was $585,500. That could mean the combined value of the destroyed residences is roughly $1.63 billion.

Finding a place to live will be just one of the challenges for displaced homeowners, especially if they decide to return to their original residences.

“It could be six to 12 months, or even longer, to rebuild the house, depending how the insurance claims go,” Nothaft said. “Then, after that, they have to find the contractors and the construction workers. There’s a shortage of skilled construction labor right now.”

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