NCW Real Estate Blog

From the NWMLS May sales numbers show the median home price down by 2.89% in King, 6.74% in Snohomish County and 7.57% in Pierce county as compared to May 2007.  In May, there were 2081 closed sales versus 3514 in May of 2007 which I calculate to be a 40.7% decrease in volume of sales.  Total sales in the NWMLS showed a 6.19% decrease in Median Price and a volume reduced to 5,158 from 8,590 closings in May of 2007.

Okanagon county is showing a 20.47% increase in median price but sales volume dropped from 35 closings in May 2007 to 17 in May of this year. 

What is the good news in all of that?  There are [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Marketing, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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Today the Justice Department helped Online Real Estate Brokers by forcing new industry policies that will give Online Brokers access to MLS data that they were previously denied.  The tentative settlement would prevent Multiple Listing Services affiliated with the National Association of Realtors from blocking access to Online Real Estate Brokers if approved by the courts.

Online brokers include services like Redfin which is active in Seattle.  There are a variety of approaches taken by various online services.

An article from MSN on the settlement is available here.  The settlement would not take effect until late summer at the earliest, but could have an impact on the local MLS systems [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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The “Snapshot” from Pacific Appraisal Associates for April is out. It shows a softening market in sales volume in both the Wenatchee multiple (down 15% in $) and the Wenatchee Market (down 27% in $). The number of homes sold is down 28% year to date in the Wenatchee multiple and 21% in the Wenatchee market.

But, the average home sales price year to date is still up [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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On May 29th and May 31st, two real estate auctions are scheduled to happen in Wenatchee!  The 29th brings a developer’s auction with Criterion Properties for a development at preliminary plat stage for 46 lots in Sunnyslope.  On the 31st, there is a builder’s liquidation auction with Northwest Auctions for nine new single family homes with warranties in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee!

Auctions are, and were even before the real estate market turned last year, the fastest growing method of selling real estate in the United States.  Why?  The reason is simple: with a well done auction, sellers get their property sold, at the market price, with a minimum of trouble.  In a market like we have today, [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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With permission from the NWMLS comes the following:

KIRKLAND, Wash. (May 5, 2008) – Pending sales during April reached their highest level in eight months, according to the latest figures from Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which covers 19 counties in western and central Washington.

Brokers reported 6,208 pending sales (offers made and accepted, but not yet closed) last month. That was the highest number of transactions during one month since August, when MLS members notched 7,751 pending sales of single family homes and condominiums. Compared to the same month a year ago, pending sales were down about 32 percent.

Other indicators tracked by the multiple listing service were mixed.  Prices for sales that closed during April were [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Marketing, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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The “Snapshot” from Pacific Appraisal Associates for March is out. It shows a softening market in sales volume in both the Wenatchee multiple (down 10% in $) and the Wenatchee Market (down 24% in $). The number of homes sold is down 19% year to date in the Wenatchee multiple and 28% in the Wenatchee market.

But, for the good news, average home sales price year to date is still up 11% in the multiple and median price is still up by 10%. In the Wenatchee market area, both median and average price are [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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I met with Ron Tate and Mary Pat Scofield at Bear Mountain Ranch this week. I knew that Bear Mountain Ranch is a beautiful project, but felt remiss in that I really didn’t know what was happening up there these days. So, I went to find out.

What I saw is that I really had no idea how much the Bear Mountain Ranch project entails. I learned a bunch. 

This year will mark the first year that they have offered the Private Residence Club at Bear Mountain Ranch. This is a fractional ownership opportunity for 1/8 share (6 weeks per year) in 2-story single-family style homes. This is a deeded equity ownership that allows the flexibility of scheduling any of the homes in the Club and use of the amenities of the resort development.

Also new this year is the Beach Club [Read more →]

Tags: Construction, General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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In an April 4 press release, the NWMLS reported price stability in the market with an uptick in the median price in March. According to NWMLS data, the price correction in the market is old news and happened in August and September of 2007 in King County.

Having energy back in the King County market usually means there will be energy in the Chelan area market. Share your thoughts in the comments!

Here is the first part of the press release, before the county by county information:

KIRKLAND, Wash. (April 4, 2008) – Stable housing prices and strong real estate fundamentals are creating an attractive market for buyers, according to officials from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Commenting on just-released figures for activity for the month of March, MLS director Matt Deasy noted prices have been stable for six months and conditions have changed to a buyer’s market. [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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Here’s a link to an article from MSN with some pretty good information on the topic. It talks about a couple of studies, one from California and one from Bellingham, on the relative value of views. It’s a pretty good read! One of the more interesting things to me is that there is this gentleman in California who makes his living simply by pricing views for developers. Does that make him a “Viewpraisor,” a Viewologist or…

Tags: General Interest, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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Here it is, a business opportunity for somebody in North Central Washington. The Wall Street Journal today has a post that talks about the effectiveness of home staging. Well, the article is really about “buyer beware” home staging might make you pay too much.

That, of course, is silly. Regarding staging of a home, the article states:

Home buyers impressed by such good looks, tend to overpay. According to home stagers, staged homes sell for [Read more →]

Tags: Design, General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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