April real estate sales in Bellingham and Whatcom County were a very mixed bag compared to a year ago. Bellingham sales dropped, some areas held their own and several were up dramatically. Changes in sale prices tended to follow the changes in units sold. Some specifics:

Bellingham sales fell 16% from last years numbers, with both average and median sale prices down about 8%.

Ferndale & Sudden Valley each had exactly the same number of sales as last April, with average prices down 5% in Ferndale and 14% in Sudden Valley. The medians fell about 14% in both areas.

Birch Bay/Blaine posted the best numbers in the county, with unit sales up 118%, average sale prices up almost 29% and the median up nearly 12%.

Lynden remained strong for the 2nd month in a row, with unit sales increasing 64% over a year ago, average sale prices up 6% and the median increasing by 14%.

The chart below shows unit sales, average sale prices and median sale prices over the past 3 years in Whatcom County as a whole.

The price distribution of homes sold in our market has been changing over the past few years, and sometimes it is helpful to jump back and see from whence we have come to get a better perspective of where we are and where we may be going.  The following table compares the price ranges of homes that have sold in Bellingham for the first 4 months of 2007 and 2010.

Certainly the total number of homes sold in the first 4 months of 2007 is much higher than the number sold in that period of 2010, but look at the “Unit Change” column in the table above to see where most of those sales were lost.  This shift brings down both the average and median price numbers when we look at total sales.  Beyond the fact that homes below $300,000 are simply more affordable, this may also be caused by the decline in home sales outside our immediate area.  For years, we have seen people move here from higher priced areas (especially Seattle and California) after selling more expensive homes.  They have been a major driver in the upper price ranges of our market.  When their markets declined the number relocating dropped substantially.  As those areas improve, we can expect our market to do the same, particularly in the higher ranges.

To learn more about what the future may hold for the Bellingham and Whatcom County Real Estate markets visit the complete Bellingham Real Estate Update Page at www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com

For more information on Bellingham Real Estate or to search for homes in the Bellingham and Whatcom County area visit www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com, your one stop Bellingham real estate and community information resource!