NCW Real Estate Blog

Underway is a comprehensive rewrite of the Chelan County subdivision code, section 12 of Chelan County Code.  The proposed code, with other comprehensive plan updates, is going before the Planning Commission on the 28th of September for a hearing and before the Commission for adoption on October 5th.

Here is a copy of a strikeout draft of the proposed code.  The strikeouts are not changes from the existing code, but simply markups from an earlier version of the draft.  Many of the stakeholders in the process are concerned about some of the effects of the proposed changes. 

This is one of your last chances to take a look and express your thoughts to:

Lilith Yanagimachi 
Planner  II
Chelan County
509.667.6586
lilith.yanagimachi@co.chelan.wa.us

Tags: General Interest, Land Use, Local // Add Comment »

Here’s the Pacific Appraisals Home Sales Snapshot Report for August.  Sales volume for the year is running 19% below last year year to date by transaction volume with August about equal to August 2008 with 79 homes sold in August this year compared to 77 last year. 

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.

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From Pacific Appraisals comes August results in Snapshot reports for Leavenworth and Cashmere.  This information is culled from the Wenatchee multiple listing service.

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.

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8 Kahler Glen homes cannot be occupied from December 31 to March 31 each winter due to avalanche danger in their locations according to an order issued by Chelan County. 

Last year, a home on Pelton Place was destroyed by an avalanche and there was damage to neighboring homes.   The order is to remain in place until the homeowners, at their expense, undertake avalanche protection measures that could cost as much as $2 million.

The homeowners have hired an attorney and filed an appeal with the Chelan County Hearing Examiner.

Here’s an excerpt of a Wenatchee World story on the issue:

The order is the first of its kind in the county, where officials have deemed residential homes uninhabitable for part of the year. In addition, two vacant lots in the area will not be eligible for building permits because of the order, county planning officials said.

The restriction would remain in place until avalanche protection measures are taken by property owners, which could cost up to $2 million.

The county issued the order last month in response to a powerful avalanche that destroyed a home on Pelton Place on Feb. 7, 2008. The slide knocked a two-story home about 45 feet off its foundation. The destroyed home is included in the eight affected by the county order, even though it was not rebuilt. The foundation is still there. – Wenatchee World

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Sales dollars in Homes/Condos in the Wenatchee area are down by 28% compared to 2008 as well. 

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.

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With Boeing’s purchase of the Vought Aircraft Industries plant in South Carolina has started speculation and posturing that Boeing may put the second production line for the 787 Dreamliner somewhere other than Everett, WA. 

Boeing purchased the plant primarily to solve problems they are having with getting the 787 manufacturing problems solved, but it would be an obvious move to consider manufacturing the whole plane there as well.

Aerospace analyst Scott Hamilton with Leeham Co., said Boeing is considering four possible locations: Everett, Wash., where the plane is assembled now; Charleston, S.C., where the rear fuselage sections are built; San Antonio, Texas; and Long Beach, Calif., where Boeing makes the C-17 military transport jet.

To the chagrin of Washington state, South Carolina looks to be winning the unofficial contest so far. Its governor Mark Sanford said Boeing’s purchase of Vought — a deal that includes $580 million in cash and $422 million in forgiveness of previous cash advances — is a testament to his state’s friendly business climate.

Hamilton says all the potential sites are viable but Charleston is the logical favorite, despite having a work force that would require more training. Its union membership is younger and less militant than Boeing’s main Machinists union.

“It all comes down to one thing: cost,” Hamilton said. “Cost of a strike delay, cost of disruption from strikes, productivity from unions…. If Boeing can’t get labor stability, they will look elsewhere. A corporation is going to use the tools it has on hand to get what it wants from labor or the state. That’s just the way the world works.” – MSN

With the costs to build a new plant being minor compared to the tax advantages and labor stability that would be possible by moving a second production plant outside of Washington, our population should really consider if our government and business climate is really moving in the direction people want.  Even with huge tax breaks that were given to Boeing for the 787, our business climate is still apparently not competitive with other states.

Growth management has created high costs for real estate in Washington.  With a less robust employment market, and the migration of large employers like Boeing (can Microsoft be far behind?) out of state, we could be in for some slow times in Washington State.  But, we’ve gotten the government that has been voted for, so the public will have to change their minds on priorities before we see change.

Yesterday, there was an Associated Press article about states and local governments dumping impact fees during the recession.  They’re finding impact fees are a big deterrent to construction, which is an industry that is one of the country’s largest employers.

Average 2008 fees were $1,520 in Texas; California’s average was $19,536, up 38 percent from 2004 excluding sewer and water fees, according to a 185-city survey by Duncan Associates, an Austin, Texas-based planning consultancy.

The trend to suspend or lower fees has prompted debate over whether spurring a construction resurgence is more important than forcing new businesses or residents to pay upfront for services, or if these communities are laying the groundwork for haphazard development and higher taxes for current residents. – Associated Press

According to www.impactfees.com the increase in impact fees in Washington State, on average, from 2004 to 2008 was a whopping 63%.  Is the the change you were hoping for?

Tags: General Interest, Northwest // 1 Comment »

The information about the bill recently passed in Congress, the Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade Bill, HR 2454, is frightening.

You’ve probably already heard folks worried about the costs.  But you probably haven’t heard about the details of the 300 page amendment introduced by the Democrats at 3:00 a.m. that could not be read before voting.

How do these details grab ya?

Beyond what it will do to our economy, at the end of the debate House GOP Leader John Boehner took to the floor and started reading from the 300 page amendment that the Democrats drafted and dropped on the legislatures at 3 AM, there was literally hundred of items to impose federal control over your life. Here are some highlights.

Want to replace a window? Not so fast. First you must pay for an appraisal of your house to measure its energy efficiency and receive calculations of both before and after the proposed change. Hey, it may be a great excuse for those guys trying to avoid putting in that big bay style window that the missus has been bugging you about.

Are you having a new house built? Back up, Skippy. This bill includes language that tells you exactly where you can put your electrical outlets.

Did you know that for one sort of appraisal service related to determining energy efficiency there is only one company you can use? Yup, it is right in there along with the name of the company. How is it that this one company managed to land the only contract to service 300 million Americans? Who is this company?

I wish I could answer those questions, but all of those provisions and more, Rep. Boehner went on for almost an hour citing them and still didn’t get through the whole 300 pages, is not available. You see because of when the Democrats dropped this amendment at 3 AM the text of it is not available. So much for that transparency. The total bill runs on for more then 1500 pages and it controls every aspect of your life, from what type of car we will be able to produce and buy to what type of appliances you have in your house.

Under some of these provisions you won’t be able to sell your house. Got your eyes and a quaint little place out the way and off the beaten path? Forget about it. By the time you went through the time and expense to get it up to the new code proposed in this legislation that little place in the woods will resemble something out the Jetsons. –JammieWearingFool

Are these the same folks you want deciding if you get health care when you need it?  If you’re mad, please do something about it.

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The Snapshot reports from Pacific Appraisal for May show slow sales in both Leavenworth and Cashmere as compared to last year and the last several years.

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.

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On Wednesday, I was able to go to the Chelan Planning Commission’s workshop on the new draft Shoreline Managment Plan, but did not have a copy of the plan to view during the discussion. Today, the draft is available in its 358 pages of glory!  For most of us, the first 8 sections are the pertinent ones since most of the stuff after that is specific to individual cities.  That leaves you with only 183 pages to review carefully.  This is important to review carefully if you care about building anything near any waterway, clean water, access to shorelines, access to waterways, private property rights, public rights and I could go on and on.

From Wednesday’s discussion, there are many changes from the previous preliminary draft that came out.  Some are great, like easing some of the maintenance restrictions on docks, etc.  But, there are still provisions for public access requirement across private developments.  Apparently Washington’s Shorelines Managment Act has requirements that are driving some of the more controversial sections of the local Shoreline Management Plan update.  Also, attempts were made to reference appropriate Washington Administrative Code (WAC) and Revised Code of Washington (RCW) that are the rules that the plan is required to comply with.  So, you should be able to compare what the rule requires to what has been written.

Now, the draft Shoreline Managment Plan is available.  I will have further comments next week when I’ve spent some time with it.  The county would like to have all comments by August 7th.

A hard copy of the Draft SMP will also be available (starting next week) to look through at each City Hall (Cashmere, Chelan, Entiat, Leavenworth, and Wenatchee), Chelan County Natural Resource Department, Chelan County Community Development Department, and the North Central Washington Library in Wenatchee.   

How to submit comments:

• Comments can either be submitted electronically (e-mail) or through the postal mail (see addresses below)
• Comments referencing the section (not the page) of the document first would be extremely helpful
  For Example: Section 4.4.2.1.a; then comment.

Submit comments to:

Erin Fonville
SMP Project Manager/
Natural Resource Specialist
Chelan County Natural Resource Department
316 Washington St. Suite 401
Wenatchee, WA 98801
E-mail:  erin.fonville@co.chelan.wa.us

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Well, yes, I think a bunch of it is.  There are a bunch of homes, particularly in the over $400k range, that are overpriced for today’s market.   The Wenatchee World had a conversation about this a few days ago, with a couple of local experts weighing in, because of a CNN Money article that pegged Wenatchee as the third most overpriced real estate market in the country.

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.

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