The Bellingham Real Estate Blog » Real Estate Sales Statistics

Bellingham Real Estate Update – How Many Homes Are Pending?

Fawn — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:07:57 +0000

Every week we track the number of homes on the market that have offers on them and those that do not and create a ratio we call Pending Ratios. This weeks numbers were great with all areas either remaining stable or up in pendings.

As of Saturday, February 4th, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 21% . 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 18%

The Lynden area in East Whatcom County has a pending ratio of 22%

The Sudden Valley pending ratio was 23%

The Ferndale pending ratio was 25%

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!

Bellingham Real Estate Market Update. How Many Home For Sale Have Pending Offers On Them?

Fawn — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:55:03 +0000

As of Saturday, January 28th, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 22% . 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 18%

The Lynden area in East Whatcom County has a pending ratio of 20%

The Sudden Valley pending ratio was 24%

The Ferndale pending ratio was 25%

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.

Bellingham Real Estate Market Update, Whatcom County Pending Ratios.

Fawn — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:09:38 +0000

As of Saturday, January 21st, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 23% . 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 20%

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

The Sudden Valley pending ratio was 24%

The Ferndale pending ratio was 25%

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.

Pending Ratios. Learn How Many Homes For Sale Have Offers On Them.

Fawn — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:29:05 +0000

As of Saturday, January 14th, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 21% . 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 18%

The Lynden area in East Whatcom County has a pending ratio of 18%

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.

How Many Homes For Sale In Bellingham Currently Have Offers On Them?

Fawn — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:04:56 +0000

As of Saturday, January 7th, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 21% . 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 18%

The Lynden area in East Whatcom County has a pending ratio of 17%

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.

Year End Report For Bellingham RealEstate

Fawn — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:11:14 +0000

We’ll start with the basics. Sales are holding up fairly well, with all areas above or close to sales in 2010. While average and median prices rose a bit from the November numbers in most areas the price trend is still drifting downward. This may be the reason the number of sales are holding up: prices are lower and people can afford to buy, even with the more sensible loan requirements.

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.

Year	12/31 Active	12/31 Pending	Total Sales	Avg Price Sold	% Change Yr to Yr	Median Price Sold	% Change YTY
2003	236	135	1354	$235,648
2004	209	171	1425	$266,393	13%
2005	401	165	1272	$327,309	23%	$285,000
2006	540	157	1197	$368,312	13%	$305,500	7%
2007	497	85	1219	$375,161	2%	$315,000	3%
2008	453	64	881	$359,151	-4%	$299,000	-5%
2009	412	87	912	$339,521	-5%	$288,444	-4%
2010	455	99	788	$334,304	-2%	$278,000	-4%
2011	363	99	806	$317,874	-5%	$264,250	-5%

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….

How Many Homes For Sale Have Pending Offers On Them? Bellingham Real Estate Market Update

Fawn — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:29:17 +0000

As of Saturday, December 17rd, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 22% . 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 18%

The Lynden area in East Whatcom County has a pending ratio of 16%

The Sudden Valley pending ratio was 22%

The Ferndale pending ratio was 20%

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.

Bellingham Short Sales, Distressed Properties & Forclosures: An Update

Fawn — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:52:21 +0000

A Response to Comments on an Earlier Post

On October 27, 2008, I did a post regarding Bellingham real estate short sales, distressed properties & foreclosures. In it, I defined these terms and others related to the process, and I also discussed the impacts on the Bellingham and Whatcom County real estate market.

Recently we received a comment on that post, raising some questions and making me realize we needed an update. The discussion below consists of the comments and a response.

Comment: “ I am not sure this article answered the sentence preceding the link…’Bellingham and Whatcom County Real Estate is being increasingly affected by short sales and foreclosures…’ In what way is it being affected?”

Response: The short answer is price. Particularly when the market first started to see a number of short sales, they were often priced substantially below list prices for “normal” sales. Some of these prices were “real” – that is, the home actually sold close to the listed price – but many were designed to create bidding and sold for considerably more than the list price. This is not seen as often now due to changes in MLS rules attempting to bring more credibility to pricing. Whether the prices were real or not, they created a very strong impression that prices had dropped substantially. Even if the list prices were

realistic, short sales and bank owned properties typically sold for less money than “normal” properties. As more distressed properties entered the market, “normal” sellers realized they needed to compete, and all prices have drifted lower.

As of November 30, 2011, 13% of the homes for sale in Bellingham were distressed, 55.6% of the pending sales were distressed, and 25.4% of the sales in November 2011 were distressed. It’s pretty obvious that buyers are looking for a good deal, and the “normal” sales have to compete.

Comment: “Real Estate prices are still too high in Whatcom. More specifically, too high for this economy. The cost of buying a home is out of balance with incomes, so either incomes need to rise or housing needs to fall. I own a home and … what my home is “worth” greatly exceeds what I paid for it only a few years ago even after the bubble burst…”

Response: Let’s begin by defining “worth or value”. Unless a home has recently been sold, no one knows what it is “worth”, because that is determined by the price to which a ready, willing and able buyer and a ready, willing and able seller will agree. A variety of methods are used to estimate value, but they do not establish it. A current example from our practice: a home was appraised at $235,000 in August. The list price has gradually been reduced until it is now listed at $185,000. The seller just accepted an offer of $175,000, and that could go down after the inspection is completed. I can virtually guarantee that any home sold in 2005 or thereafter is worth less than the sale price at that time, unless very significant upgrades have been made.

Affordability is a mixed bag. According to the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University, during the 2^nd quarter of 2011 (the most recent stats available), the Homeowner Affordability Index in Whatcom County was 128 (5^th lowest in the State of Washington). The first-time buyer Homeowner Affordability Index was 63.7 (also the 5^th lowest in the State of Washington). The higher the index number, the more affordable housing is relative to income.

Comment: “Bank or mortgage companies are part of the problem. They make statements that they can’t sell a house for less than XXX or refuse to sell a home at a loss… Until banks “let go” and clear the market of these properties (by selling at reasonable prices even if at a loss to the bank to eager first time buyers) this market will continue to struggle.”

Response: Lenders have been part of the problem, although not necessarily because they aren’t willing to take the losses. Some of them, particularly the surviving very large lenders, still don’t have efficient systems in place to process these

properties…particularly the short sales…which leads to incredibly long waiting times for approval, properties being sold at foreclosure while they are in negotiation for a short sale, loan modifications being denied that could work for both parties, homeowners remaining in homes after skipping payments for months without notice of default, etc.

The flip side, however, is that in areas with massive numbers of properties in default, the delays have helped to feed homes into the market gradually rather than in one big batch. This may have been a godsend to “normal” sellers by helping to keep prices somewhat more stable.

In the State of Washington, a new law took effect last July with requirements that may help distressed sellers negotiate more effectively and in a more timely manner with their lender.

An Observation: It is worth repeating the numbers regarding distressed and “normal” sales from above: As of November 30, 2011, 13% of the homes for sale in Bellingham were distressed, 55.6% of the pending sales were distressed, and 25.4% of the sales in November 2011 were distressed. Note the disparity between the percentage of active listings which are distressed, (the lowest percentage of the 3), the percentage pending sales which are distressed (the highest percentage of the 3) and the percentage of homes sold in November which were distressed. A “normal” sale typically closes in about 30 days. Most bank-owned properties close in 30 to 45 days. A short sale may never close, and the default period of time to hear back from the lender according to our contract forms is 60 days…and it typically takes an additional 30 days to close. Buyers and agents are learning about the frustrations, delays and risks of a short sale, which means the price for one has to be really good to tempt a buyer to go through the process. This may actually lessen their impact on prices as fewer buyers want to mess with them.

Bellingham Real Estate Market Report- Mixed News!

Fawn — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:50:46 +0000

Sales were up, sales were down, some prices were up, but most ing were down…and whether they were up or down changes according to how one compares them. If you are confused already, welcome to the club…but let’s try to make some sense of it.

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.

November 2010 Price Ranges in $1000’s	Total 2010 November $ Sales	Total Units Sold	Average Sales Price	% of Market	Changes in November Year to Year Distribution of Residential Sales in Bellingham
<300	$6,601,220	29	$227,628	56.9%
300 to <500	$6,046,108	16	$377,882	31.4%
>500	$2,618,630	5	$523,726	9.8%
>750	$1,150,000	1	$1,150,000	2.0%

November 2011 Price Ranges in $1000’s	Total 2011 November $ Sales	Total Units Sold	Average Sales Price	% of Market	Unit Change	Average Price Change
<300	$8,941,940	44	$203,226	74.6%	51.7%	-10.7%
300 to <500	$3,423,400	10	$342,340	16.9%	-37.5%	-9.4%
>500	$2,350,000	4	$587,500	6.8%	-20.0%	12.2%
>750	$850,000	1	$850,000	1.7%	0.0%	-26.1%

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.

Bellingham Real Estate Market Update. Weekly Pending Ratios

Fawn — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:00:19 +0000

As of Saturday, December 3rd, the pending ratio in Bellingham was 22% . 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 20%

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

The Sudden Valley pending ratio was 24%

The Ferndale pending ratio was 21%

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.