Real estate sales in Whatcom County for the 3rd quarter of the year bucked the trend of the first 2 quarters and saw the number of home sales hold or rise slightly from 2008. September was unusually strong, beating the sales numbers for August. Unfortunately, median prices did not follow suit, dropping slightly in Bellingham but more than 10% in the County as a whole. A few details of September sales relative to last year:
- Total Whatcom County sales were up by 13%, with Blaine/Birch Bay leading the pack with a 54.5% increase in the number of homes sold and Ferndale close behind with a 41% increase.
- Lynden is still struggling, with a 6.3% drop in sales and a 20% drop in the average sales price.
- Nooksack Valley prices managed to maintain last year’s levels, but every other area of the County dropped – from 9.9% to 20.4%.
Inventory levels continue to fall, which is normal for this time of year, and pending numbers increased again this month, which is not normal for this time of year. It looks as though a few more of these pending sales are translating into solds, based upon the higher September sales numbers, and if we look at the price distribution of those sales, we can see why the average and median prices have fallen. As the table below shows, the under $300,000 portion of the market in Bellingham increased by 7.5% from September of last year, but the pricing in that segment of the market dropped by 9%. This provided a double hit to the median and average prices.
As noted last month, our new ability to track short sales and bank owned properties (REOs) is also providing insight into what is happening in the Bellingham & Whatcom County real estate markets. Over 9% of home sales in Bellingham since May (when figures were first available) have been either short sales or REOs. Since these homes often sell for less than a typical home, these sales pull the median and average sale prices down. It is interesting to note that short sales and REOs currently make up almost 28% of the pending sales in Bellingham
On the chart below, note that the number of Whatcom County homes sold in September 2009 was higher than in 2008 and equivalent to 2007. On the other hand, average and median prices hit their lowest point in the past 33 months. Activity is up, but there is a definite cost.
What happens next? Based on the pending numbers, the increase in sales of the last month and the continued low interest rates, it looks as though we could have a relatively strong year end in terms of homes sold in the lower end. I see continued pressure on prices – the high percentage of short sales as a percentage of pending sales certainly shows where buyers’ interest lies, and some ordinary sellers who have been holding to their price point are becoming more motivated to move.
For ongoing real estate numbers, go to www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com/blog. We update the site weekly with everything from interest rates to market conditions to information from Fannie Mae, the FED and the FDIC. Also, feel free to call us at (360) 303-2734 or e-mail Info@JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com if you want to know more about a specific portion of the market – we track a lot more than we have space to report. |
