Leavenworth:

The Leavenworth market remains consistent when comparing recent months. Sales continue to be down, while the average and median sales prices of single family homes remains stable. An item to note is there were 3 condo’s sold last month! And with each new condo closing we are are seeing a significant decline in both the median and average sales prices from one year ago.

Cashmere:

The Cashmere marketplace remains significantly down in the number and volume of homes sold when comparing this month’s data to one year ago. However, there were 2 closed single family home sales this month. Up a 100% from a year ago.

381 homes have sold this year compared to 469 last year, a reduction of 19%. Number of homes listed is also down from last year by 18%. Currently there is an 11 month supply of homes on the market when considering all price ranges.

September of 2008 was slow, so it will be interesting to see what happens next month!

Click for Lake Chelan Home and Real Estate Sales information.

From the report, Leavenworth:

The Leavenworth market finds itself slightly better in comparison to 1 month ago, but still significantly behind where it was 1 year ago. The total number of sold single family homes is down 48% from a year ago.  Interestingly, both the median and average home sales price are higher when considering YTD. Currently there are 194 homes on the market, which translates into a 48 month supply at current selling rates.

It was a pleasure to see Geordie Romer yesterday at ReBar Camp in Seattle.  Looking at his latest posts, it looks like we all concur that the market is still a bit slower than last year!

And for Cashmere in July where only 1 home sold:

The Cashmere market continues at sluggish pace when considering single family purchases in comparison to 1 year ago. The total volume is approximately 58% behind last year at this time. The number of sold single family homes remain close to 50% of last years numbers. In contrast, the average homes sales price remains stable by comparison at only 5% lower. The median home sales price remains significantly less at -23%. The volume of homes currently listed remains significantly higher than last year at this time.

The most striking feature of the Pacific Appraisals Snapshot Report is the monthly sales volume, available inventory and months supply at various price levels.  Sales volume over $250,000 drops off steeply and sales volume over $400,000 is less than 1 per month in most price ranges!  Some good news is that the number of homes on the market has stopped climbing and currently sits at 643 as of the end of June.

Here are the reports:

Leavenworth Real Estate Sales
Cashmere Real Estate Sales

Sales in Leavenworth are down 67% compared to last year for single family homes and condominiums sold.  While the median price for homes sold is only down 3% as compared to last year, condos in Leavenworth are down 25%.

In Cashmere, there were no recorded closed sales in May.  YTD data indicates a 61% reduction in overall volume and a 58% reduction in number of homes sold.

They measured “over priced” by the ratio of the median income to the median home price.  There are some arguments why that may not be a perfect model for Wenatchee.  But, to be the way out in the tail of the curve as third most overpriced in the country, well, there are other towns with lots of out of town buyers too that didn’t score ahead of Wenatchee.  I don’t mean to pick on Wenatchee.  I think this applies to the whole area.

The CNN article stated:

And there are still some over-valued areas. Atlantic City, N.J., for example. Here the median price is $243,600, an overvaluation of 44.1%, the most of any metro area. The Ocean City, N.J., median price of $302,100 is the second most overvalued, at 33.8%. In third place is Wenatchee, Wash., which at $247,100, is 29.3% above normal. – CNN

In the World article, a local appraisal company and a local realtor in Wenatchee gave their opinions.  The opinions were well stated and thought out.  They talked about the basis for the CNN article, average income versus median home price, as having some issues.  They also talked about different price sectors of the market versus inventory at those price points.  All good thoughts.

 But after a discussion of the large inventory of higher end homes,  Brian Vincent from Pacific Appraisals said “I can’t say those (higher-end) homes are 30 percent overvalued, but the market has to correct itself to get some of them to move.”  Brian also said at one point he did not forsee an adjustment of 30% in the local market.  It is a good article, and worth a read: Housing Experts differ on pricing.

One fairly simple way to look at it, if your home is marketed competently, and has been on the market for a long time, it is over priced for today’s market.

Cashmere is lagging last year in sales by 57% in dollar volume and 53% by transaction volume.  The 46 homes for sale in the market are about a 6 month supply which should make for stable pricing in the market.

Leavenworth is down 71% in dollar volume and 69% in transaction volume compared to last year.  The average home sales price is down 6% while the average condo sales price is down 18% year to date.

Have a look at the complete reports!

Year to date 153 condos and homes have sold versus 190 for the same time last year.  Volume is down 21% by dollar volume and 19% by number of sales.  The report includes breakdowns by price range of active listings, average number sold per month and indicated months supply.  For homes priced over $300,000 sales volumes drop off fairly abruptly.

Seattle, which had withstood the national downturn until recently, saw foreclosures spike 55% from a year earlier and jump a stunning 88% from the fourth quarter. The Auburn neighborhood topped its list of new foreclosures, or properties scheduled for auction for the first time during the period. – WSJ

So far, the Auburn area is seeing the highest foreclosure rate.    The increase is beyond typical seasonal increases and is believed to be due to economic malaise.

The Cashmere Snapshot is new and suffers from not having a great history of data in a market where each month does not have enough data to show any trends.

The Leavenworth Snapshot is likewise a new work and only has 4 data points to show for February.  But, over time, these could develop into useful reports of the market.  Thanks Pacific Appraisals!