Currently this week in Blaine/Birch Bay, WA the Pending Ratio is 11%, which is up one percentage point with last week’s ratio of 10%. The pending ratios are the percentage of homes listed that have pending offers on them.

Below is a graph to view the Blaine/Birch Bay Real Estate pending sales trend.

To view the pending ratios in numerical form click here

Currently this week in Blaine/Birch Bay, WA the Pending Ratio is 14%, which is down 1% from last week’s ratio of 15%. The pending ratios are the percentage of homes listed that have pending offers on them.

Below is a graph to view the Blaine/Birch Bay Real Estate pending sales trend.

To view the pending ratios in numerical form click here

Currently this week in Blaine/Birch Bay, WA the Pending Ratio is 15%, which is down 1% from last week’s ratio of 16%. The pending ratios are the percentage of homes listed that have pending offers on them.

Below is a graph to view the Blaine/Birch Bay Real Estate pending sales trend.

To view the pending ratios in numerical form click here

Currently this week in Blaine/Birch Bay, WA the Pending Ratio is 16%, which is stable from last week. The pending ratios are the percentage of homes listed that have pending offers on them.

Below is a graph to view the Blaine/Birch Bay Real Estate pending sales trend.

To view the pending ratios in numerical form click here

Remember the old Peace Arch Outlet mall? The one along the I-5 that is a remnant of the heyday when Canadians came down here by the hoards to spend their money? For years it has been slowly dying with more and more business leaving. The blank, empty windows sat there lifeless, like much of the mall.

But then North Bay Christ the King church moved in and took up some space. And then, it was sold. And the new owner has vision!

The transformation to a village style mall called Birch Bay Square is nearly complete and a large new grocery store, Scotts, will be open soon. A grocery store for that part of the county has been a long time coming.

But more exiciting is that Bob’s Burger and Brew is going in. This local restaurant is a popular franchise across Whatcom and Skagit county.

The real stamp of approval though? Starbucks. They announced that they will be opening a store in Birch Bay Square! Now before you just write me off as a Starbucks snob who loves her coffee (which is pretty much the truth, but that is a whole different post) the important thing to look at here is market research. Starbucks does some of the most extensive market research of any company out there before putting in a store. And it makes sense. How bad would it look if a Starbucks opened then had to close due to lack of business? It would certainly tarnish their image.

If Starbucks is going in, there is obviously a need and a desire for that kind of establishment, and the clientele to support it. This is also great news for all the other shops in Birch Bay Square since Starbucks is quite often a destination store that will bring in customers who then shop at other areas.

Looks like the northern part of the county just keeps on growing. Even if Bellingham puts in measures to limit growth and building new homes, Ferndale and Birch Bay seem to be more than willing to take those homes and the growth.

In spite of opposition from residents and council members themselves, Seagrass Cottages II, a 68-home Trillium Corp. development that will go on the Semiahmoo spit was approved by the Blaine City Council 4-3.

The proposal was initially rejected by the Blaine City Council last October but Trillium appealed the decision and then agreed to present a new proposal which has now been approved. Did Blaine City Council approve Seagrass Cottages II in order to avoid a legal battle with a large company such as Trillium Corp? It is quite possible.

As residents of Blaine, which would you prefer - an expensive legal battle or some unwanted condos next to a park? It’s a difficult question to answer and I’m sure that people’s opinion on the matter is influenced greatly by their value of greenspace.

Birch Bay has boomed with growth over the past several years with hundreds of new homes plus new commercial properties being added. The Whatcom County Fire Department says that it can no longer serve the area to the same level without money for new firefighters and equipment.

Although taxes from the new homes bring in some revenue, the fire department fell $3 million short of what they need or $2700 per house. In September they came to an agreement with the developers of Horizons at Semiahmoo that they would pay $2500 per new house. Fred Bovenkamp, Peter Horne and Jim Kaemingk, the developers of the Semiahmoo projects, are now saying that the fee is too much.

The fire department said that it did not want to put the added burden onto the individual home owners and that is why they were charging the developer. Problem is, if you charge the developer they are just going to in turn charge the buyer of the house. Granted it would be a one time charge and it would be able to be rolled into their mortgage, but the bottom line is the buyer is still paying.

I understand that fire services are essential and that they are not cheap. However, I do not understand this: the money per home that they were receiving before was sufficient, yet now that they have more homes (therefore more money) and the entire area has increasing home values (therefore increasing taxes because they are a percentage) it is not enough?

The new design and plan for the Peace Arch border has finally been released after a delay in January. Officials presented a design that will have a long thin building on the east side of the freeway and up to 10 inspection booths. Larger secondary inspection and parking areas are also included.

Several Blaine residents are very frustrated because they have been waiting for several years for the government buy their properties which are required for the new project. The government hopes to start making offers in the second week of August and finish the purchases by January. Construction is scheduled to begin in Spring of 2007 and be completed by December 2009.

That completion date is cutting it quite close to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver BC which will be held in the early part of February. Officials insists that they have ways of expediting the project should it start to fall behind. The big question is - how much will that cost?