Birch Bay had a pending ratio of 18%

The Lynden area in East Whatcom County has a pending ratio of 27%

The Sudden Valley pending ratio was 27%

The Ferndale pending ratio was 24%

If you would like to search for Real Estate in Bellingham and Whatcom County that is currently for sale visit The Johnson Team Real Estate’s Property Search Page to search.

To view a complete history of Whatcom County Pending Ratios or for other real estate statistics don’t hesitate to contact The Johnson Team at (360) 303-2734 or by email at Info@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!

 Things are looking up a bit in the Whatcom County Real Estate market.  Let’s look at some examples:

• March was up strongly over February in both units sold and prices in most areas of the county.  This is a typical spring occurance.  Bellingham sales increased 63%, average prices were up 15.8% and median price rose 7.2%.  Whatcom County sales increased 50%, average prices 18.5% and the median was up 11.2%.  All good.
• Compared to March of 2011, the numbers were a bit more mixed, but still not too bad.  While Bellingham sales numbers were down 4.6%, that will probably change with some late reporting.  Whatcom County sales overall were up 9.7 %.  Average sale prices in Bellingham were up 7% over last March, while the median dropped 4.6%.  All of Whatcom County saw averages up 6.3% and the median down 0.4%.  Indications are that the market is holding steady relative to a year ago, with changes being relatively minor in most areas.
• The first quarter relative to 2011 clearly showed the increased demand in areas outside Bellingham, with increases in number of homes sold from 15.0% in Blaine/Birch Bay to 51.7% in Lynden.  Bellingham sales were down 11.3% from the first 3 months of 2011.  Pricing was mixed, with the county as a whole, including Bellingham, down 4% in average prices and 6.3% in the median.

 So, to summarize, the shift of activity from Bellingham to the county seems to be continuing, prices have softened since a year ago, but are showing a bit more strength over the past 2 months.

 Sales numbers and prices are giving us some positive market indicators, and there are other factors worthy of attention. 

• Last month we noted the decline in the number of short sale and bank owned properties listed for sale.  That continued in March.

 

• Inventory levels are remaining extremely low.  As sales increase, there could be upward pressure on prices. Throughout the county, the average number of days a property is on the market before an accepted contract is down by 10.4% from last year, to 146 days.  23% are selling within 30 days, at almost 98% of list price. 
• While interest rates have bumped up a bit, they are still extremely low.

• The distribution of sales in Bellingham in March showed more strength in the ranges over $300,000.  While the past few months had 70+% of sales in the under $300,000 range, March was back to a more typical under $300,000 percentage of 58.1%.  That could be the result of move up buyers as well as more incoming population.

In summary, underlying conditions are supportive of a stronger market through the spring.

To read the complete article and view additional charts and graphs on the local Bellingham Real Estate Market visit The Johnson Team’s Real Estate Market Report

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!

There are some odd things going on in the real estate market.

• Trend lines of average and median prices for the past 3 years have been down, but the units sold trend has been stable.  We crossed the tipping point this month…all trend lines are now heading down both for Bellingham and the county as a whole.
• With that said, sales for the first two months of the year are up strongly in all areas except Bellingham and Birch Bay/Blaine. 
• The number of short sale and bank owned properties on the market has been dropping over the past 2 months, and the number of those types of properties sold is down from last fall.
• The Bellingham market is the largest in the county and has typically been the strongest, but that doesn’t seem to be the case lately.   

Indications of shifts in market activity to areas outside Bellingham started showing up at the end of the year.  Bellingham inventory continued lower than the prior year, but the number of pending sales also started to decline.  In some other areas of the county, however, pending sales were climbing.  Look at the numbers as of the end of February in the table below.

So why are pending sales so strong, particularly in Ferndale and Lynden, compared to Bellingham?  In looking at the individual properties represented in these numbers, the increases seem to be driven by new construction.  Ferndale and Lynden went into the recession with large numbers of platted lots available.  Prices on those lots have come down and new houses are being built.  While some of that is going on in Bellingham, it is a much smaller percentage of the market.  Read On….. 

For ongoing real estate numbers and details on all the Whatcom County market areas, go to main website. 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.

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!

Sometimes it is interesting to look at the longer view, so I went back in the dusty archives to 2003.  At that point I wasn’t tracking quite as much as I do now, but the basics are very interesting.  Following is a table showing changes as of the end of each year.  It is interesting, of course, to see the changes in number of homes sold and prices over the past 9 years.

However, the really interesting part may go beyond the basic comparisons. Look at the Active figures from 2004, 2005 & 2006. They increased substantially. Now look at the Sale numbers for 2005, 2006 & 2007. They dropped substantially from 2004 levels. Throughout 2006, inventory, pending and sale numbers were clear indicators that the market was out of balance and cooling off. At the same time, look at the sale prices. They increased substantially from 2004 to 2006, and continued to some degree into 2007. It seems as though the law of supply and demand, even with easy financing, was not operating as might have been expected. Read On….

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!

For the most part, the number of homes sold was less than in October, which is normal.  The exceptions were Ferndale and Nooksack Valley, where almost twice as many homes sold in November, and Birch Bay/Blaine, where there was a slight uptick.  If we compare sales numbers to last November, however, more homes sold this year in every area of the county except Lynden and Mt. Baker.  Overall, nearly 11% more homes sold in Whatcom County this year than in November of 2010.

That’s good news.  It means that people want to buy and are able to get loans.

Now let’s look at prices, which seem to be an entirely different story.  Hang in here and I’ll explain the “seem to be” after we look at the numbers.

From October to November, average and median prices dropped by double digits in every area except Lynden (and the median in Sudden Valley).  As a whole, average prices in Whatcom County fell by 16.7%, while the median fell by 5.7%.  November 2011 to November 2010 price changes were not quite as dramatic, but almost.  Bellingham, Ferndale, Nooksack Valley and Mt Baker saw double digit declines in both average and median prices.  Only the Birch Bay/Blaine area saw increases in both average and median, although both Lynden & Mt Baker saw medians go up a bit.  For the county as a whole, the average was down 12% and the median down a bit over 11%.

So has the housing apocalypse hit us?  I don’t think so.  Let me show you why.  The following table shows how many Bellingham homes sold in each of 4 price ranges in November 2010 and then in November 2011.  (If you wonder why I just use Bellingham numbers for this, give me a call or email and I’ll explain my reasoning.) When I look at this table, there are a couple of numbers that jump out.  Look at the total units sold in 2010 in the under $300,000 range…then look at the same category in 2011.  Then follow each of those lines over to the “% of Market” column.  Pretty dramatic, right?

So what does this mean?  Have a lot of homes dropped so much in price that they are now in the under $300,000 range rather than the $300,000 to $500,000 range?  Certainly some have crossed that line, but we have actually seen fewer dollars of change in the lower price range.  Remember, 1% of a large number is a lot more than 1% of a smaller number.  I don’t think that explains the substantial increase in under $300,000 sales, and I will show you why.

For the complete article and analysis of the Bellingham and Whatcom County Real Estate Markets go to the December Real Estate Wrap up on our website.

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!

Last month I compared our market to ping pong balls, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes both…just depends on the area.  In October

• Bellingham unit sales up from October 2010 (to 75 homes from 65) & almost equal to last month (to 75 homes from 77).
• Ferndale unit sales down from October 2010 (to 14 homes from 27) & down further from last month (to14 homes from 37).
• Birch Bay/Blaine unit sales down a bit from October 2010 (to 13 homes from 15) & down a lot from last month (to13 homes from 28).
• Ferndale unit sales dropped substantially from October 2010 (to 14 homes from 27) & from last month as well (to 14 homes from 37).
• Lynden managed to about break even – up 3 homes from 2010 and down 3 from September.  

But how about the prices, you say.  They were bouncing too, with average sale prices in Bellingham and Birch Bay/Lynden down in the double digits from September while Ferndale, Sudden Valley and Nooksack Valley saw double digit increases.  If we compare to October 2010, Ferndale and Mt Baker home sale averages were up by double digits, while Birch Bay/Blaine and Lynden were down by those amounts and Bellingham and Sudden Valley were close to holding their own.  Want more specifics?

• Bellingham prices October 2011 to 2010:  average -3.7%; median -12.1%
• Whatcom County prices October 2011 to 2010:  average -15.8%; median -18.8%
• Bellingham prices October to September 2011:  average -12%; median -2.4%
• Whatcom County prices October to September 2011:  average +.4%; median -1.9%

The Bellingham market moved even more strongly into the lower price points, with 64% of the sales below $300,000.  Obviously, as prices have dropped, more homes have moved into this category, but it is interesting to note that 4 of the past 6 months have had over 60% of sales at or below $300,000.  This is atypical, even as far back as 2006.  It certainly isn’t because it is now easier for buyers in the lower price ranges to get loans!  During the frenzy, this part of the market was heavily dependent on sub-prime loans.  Now, standards for even FHA loans are higher.

There are several speculative explanations for the shift:

• Prices for homes at all price points have fallen, moving more of the inventory below $300,000.
• As prices have fallen, fewer owners of lower priced homes have been able to sell and take sufficient equity out of their current home to move into the next bracket.
• As prices have fallen in areas traditionally providing our incoming purchasers (California, Seattle), our market has localized so our buyers have local incomes and less equity.
• Buyers (and lenders) are more aware of the hazards of “over-buying”, so they are purchasing more conservative homes.

  The table below shows the change in market distribution from last October

To read the complete article visit The Johnson Team Real Estate’s Real Estate Update Page. www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com also includes a constantly updated list of newly listed properties and a list of properties being offered as short sales & foreclosures (REOs), as well as the entire listing database of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, fully searchable to your specifications.

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!

• More homes sold in Bellingham & Whatcom County as a whole than in any other month this year.  This is the first time in 6 years that has happened in Bellingham and only the second for the entire County.  June and July typically see the highest number of sales.
• August sales matched 2010 sales in Bellingham and were up almost 21% for the County as a whole.
• Lynden sales were incredible…up 183% over last year and higher than any year of the past 6.
• Ferndale sales weren’t too bad either, doubling from last year and the highest since 2007.

            And then there was the pricing story:

• Average sale prices in Bellingham dropped 5.8% from 2010 and 9.2% from July of this year.
• Average sale prices in all of Whatcom County dropped 6.1% from 2010 and 2.2% from July of this year.
• Lynden prices held the best, with the average actually increasing 3.8%.
• Sudden Valley was hit the hardest, with both median & average prices down by 35% or more.

So what the heck is going on?  Let’s start by going back to the sales distribution numbers for Bellingham. Note the 61.4% of sales <$300,000.  Last year it was 50.6%, in 2009 it was 42.4%.

For the complete article on the state of the Bellingham and Whatcom County Real Estate Market’s visit Bellingham Real Estate Update Page   to read more!

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!

As of Saturday, August 13th, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 20% . Pending is the time frame between when an offer has been mutual accepted between the buyer’s and the seller’s of the home and when the title actually transfers hands. This give the buyer’s time to get the financing, do inspection, review the title reports and more.

Birch Bay had a pending ratio of 17%

The Lynden area in East Whatcom County has a pending ratio of 19%

The Sudden Valley pending ratio was 22%

The Ferndale pending ratio was 13%

To view a complete history of Whatcom County Pending Ratios or for other real estate statistics don’t hesitate to contact The Johnson Team at (360) 303-2734 or by email at Info@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!

After the first half saw sales and prices stabilize, and in some cases actually rise a bit over 2010, July was a mixed story.  The number of homes sold in Bellingham was down 19% and Ferndale was down 30%.  On the other hand, every other area except Nooksack Valley was up substantially, from 47% in Birch Bay/Blaine and 67% in Sudden Valley to 100% in Lynden.  Average and median prices, on the other hand, were down everywhere but Sudden Valley, where the average was up by 38% and the median by 33%.

From June to July, sales were down almost across the board.  Lynden was up by 1 sale and the Mt. Baker area doubled, but all other areas dropped, with Whatcom County as a whole down 15% in unit sales from June.  Prices were down across the board, except for the median in Bellingham, which actually increased 13.5% (more about that later)!   Whatcom County as a whole posted declines in the average prices of 7% and in the median of 2%. 

            So in Bellingham, how can unit sales fall, average prices fall and median prices rise by 13.5%?  The table below explains.  If there are 11 sales, the median is the price of the 6^th sale…half are above it and half are below it.  As you can see in the table, the biggest unit drop was in the lowest price range, so the median moved up.  Relatively speaking, the upper price ranges (particularly from $300,000 to $500,000) lost fewer sales.

So why are July numbers so much softer than June?  It could be concern over the debt crisis outcome that was recently “settled”.  If that is the case, the malaise could hold on for a while since the settlement left many questions unanswered and also pointed up how difficult it is for the federal governing bodies to reach agreement.  That does not bode well for resolution of future issues.  It could simply reflect uncertainty on the part of borrowers who are following the national economic and employment figures.

Leading indicators of inventory levels and pending sales are still good…inventory is lower than in just 1 of the past 5 years.  Pending sales are up 11% over last year, although I do have a concern with the validity of that number.  Consistently, short sales have been running 25% to 30% of pending sales…but in July they were only 3.6% of closed sales.  In short, they constitute a bulge in the pending sales which tends to just sit there, rather than roll through.       

To continue reading the complete article on how the Bellingham Real Estate Market is doing visit The Johnson Team Real Estate Update Page.

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!

A comparison of June 2010 to June of this year is even better, with number of sales even closer to last year – in fact, by the time late reports have straggled in, most areas could match or beat last years numbers.

Distressed property (short sale and bank owned) numbers have stayed pretty consistent over the past year. At the end of June, 10.6% of the Bellingham homes for sale were distressed. 38.6% of the pending sales were distressed, and 16.2% of the sales closed in June were distressed. They don’t seem to be having a big impact on overall sale prices.

Inventory levels in Bellingham are down 12% from last year at this time and pending sales are up by 2%.

Frankly, it looks as though the market is pretty stable. Unless there is some major change in the national economic picture, it seems that it might stay that way for a while.

Some things I am noticing:

Appraisals are more of a problem…either with appraisers not coming up with the value or with underwriters not accepting the appraised value without more comparables. In a market like Whatcom County, where we have multiple small, unique markets, there aren’t always a lot of comparable sales, and that can be a real problem.

There are more multiple offers…sometimes on distressed properties, but often on ordinary sales of desirable homes at good value. As was true in the hot market, not all of these offers last very long….as a seller, it makes sense to look hard at the buyer’s ability and reason for buying before choosing the offer to accept. Some buyers jump in too quickly in the heat of moment, then get cold feet and back away when they have time to think.

For the complete article and more charts and statistics on the Bellingham and Whatcom County Real Estate Market visit the Bellingham Real Estate Update on the Johnson Team Real Estate’s website.

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!