June Wenatchee Area Sales Numbers, is this the bottom? Some think so.
If it is, Wenatchee has done great compared to most everywhere else. The Snapshot from Pacific Appraisals is out again, and it has 2008 through June. The bottom line: median price in Wenatchee has held between $240k and $245k for the last 5 months, which is slightly above June last year. Yes, inventory is up and yes sales this year are 31% below last year.
However, I’m starting to hear from investors who are actually looking for properties again. Yes, finance is a mess, but when the news is this negative, maybe we are at the bottom. Barrons online had this article on the 14th about how this real estate rout may be short lived:
In hindsight, the housing bust hasn’t been nearly as calamitous as depicted in the media, or as Wall Street’s woes might suggest. Yes, people have lost their homes, but more than a few were mendacious mortgage applicants and mere speculators, who eagerly sought out 100% margin loans, only to fold just as quickly when prices turned against them.
It is important to remember, as well, that even after a steep drop in the S&P/Case-Shiller Indices, long-term buyers in the top 20 U.S. metro markets have seen their properties appreciate by 70% since 2000. Home prices often take five to 10 years to recover fully from severe declines such as this. But at least the available data suggest the scary dive in home prices soon will be over. - Barrons
So, there is quite a bit of good research that indeed, the real estate market may already be starting to recover. Those panicky sellers who rushed to sell at a big discount this year may look back next year and wonder why they didn’t hold through the correction. Those buyers a year from now, or two, may wish they had bought during that summer of 2008!
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