Sales of homes and condos were down by 6% in the number of transactions for the year compared to 2010.  For the year, the average sale price for homes and condos fell 3% while the median price slid only 1%.

As in most markets, the majority of the activity has been in the lower price ranges, in Leavenworth that means below $400,000.  There were two sales over $700,000, which help to keep that average sale price up.

You can see all the data on the Pacific Appraisals Snapshot Report for Leavenworth.

The number of transactions only fell by 13% and, as you would expect, average sale price fell by 15% in the first half compared to 2010.   Prices have also fallen in  Cashmere, Chelan, Wenatchee, and the Puget Sound .

But, that is the way things are going in the general area, including Wenatchee and Chelan, as well as most of the state.

The average home sale price in Cashmere was $365,000 for the 1st quarter in 2011 as compared to $262,143 last year.  But, the median price dropped to $180,000 from $260,000 in the same period last year.  Something expensive sold!  The number of homes and condos listed in Cashmere is up 5% at the end of March.

This morning, I wrote about the potential conflict this could set up in an election where citizens of Wenatchee are motivated to approve that tax increase and surrounding areas are not.  There is also some further analysis that citizens should demand on how much of a sales tax increase it would take in just the city of Wenatchee, where the surrounding areas also spend a great amount of money, to meet the financial needs of the Town Toyota Center.  Since Wenatchee gets most of the benefits of adjunct business from the Town Toyota Center and it is a regional shopping hub, that seems like it might be a better approach to the problem than taxing businesses in Waterville, Chelan and the rest of the area who don’t benefit from the arena.  Read about it and comment at the Chelan Real Estate Blog!

The Leavenworth Snapshot of Real Estate Sales shows good improvement in 2010. Dollar volume of home sales is up 57% and transaction volume is up 68% from 2009. Average sale price is up 6%.

The Cashmere Snapshot of Real Estate Sales also shows a big increase, although from very small numbers last year.  Dollar volume of home sales in Cashmere is up 103% and transaction volume is up 83% from 2009.  The average sale price is up 10% and the median price is up 31%.

If the Port and City are able to pull off this project, it could go a long way towards a new vision for that area.  The Wenatchee World had an article on the option the Port of Chelan recently signed.  I certainly support something happening to take advantage of that wonderful opportunity for Wenatchee.

Leavenworth experienced a 40% decline in the dollar volume of home sales in 2009.  Condo dollar volume dropped by only 12% even though the number of condos sold actually increased from 2008 by 13%.  In actual numbers that means 18 condos sold in 2009 as compared to 16 in 2008.   The number of homes sold in Leavenworth declines by 39% in 2009 dropping from 102 in 2008 to 62 in 2009.

The median price of a home sale in Leavenworth fell by 6% and the median price of a condo fell by 13% in 2009.

Cashmere saw a 32% decrease in the dollar volume of homes sold and a 30% reduction on the number of homes sold in 2009.  Since there was one condo sold in Cashmere in 2008 and none in 2009, there was a 100% decrease in condo sales.  The median home price in Cashmere declined 1% from $234,750 in 2008 to $232,000 in 2009.

Pacific Appraisals has decided to only publish these reports quarterly in the future.  To see the complete reports, simply click on the links above.

Please contact Graham Simon or David Grimes with questions, phone 667-6225

The proposed Building Code Resolution