Whatcom County sales are coming back, although the resurgence is spotty.
- Bellingham sold 100 houses in June of both 2008 & 2009
- Sudden Valley was up from 8 sales in 2008 to 22 in 2009
- Ferndale & Birch Bay/Blaine also had more sales in June 2009 than in June 2008
- Lynden had the largest drop in sales, from 21 last year to 15 this year
- Whatcom County as a whole was up almost 12% in the number of residences sold
The higher numbers were not totally unexpected, as pending sales have been rising for most areas relative to last year, while inventory levels continue to fall.
Prices dropped across the board from June of 2008, but the average sale price for Whatcom County as a whole is up by 3% and the median by 2.2% from May, which is more indicative of what our market is doing right now. An interesting side note is that the percentage of sale price to list price has stayed quite consistent over the past year.
- Bellingham: June 2008/June 2009 Average down 18%, Median down 10.8%
- Bellingham: May 2009/June 2009 Average up 6.3%, Median up 9.6%
- Total Whatcom County: June 2008/June 2009 Average down 17.7%, Median down 9.6%
- Total Whatcom County: May 2009/June 2009 Average up 3%, Median up 2.2%
As the chart below clearly shows, we went to a new, lower “normal” price range after August of last year, but unit sales are showing a sharper seasonal increase than they did a year ago.
As shown in the table below, the upper end of Bellingham’s market is still very soft, but the mid-range of $300,000 to $500,000 has bounced up nicely.
So where is our real estate market going I continue to see a gradual strengthening, with more sales and relatively stable prices. As is typical, the areas closer to Bellingham will recover first, but I think the market is too skittish to support true price increases. The other factor dampening prices will be financing, on two levels:
- Lenders are looking very hard at appraisals, and in some cases are not accepting the values appraisers bring them
- Interest rates are up, and with long term bond rates rising, they are likely to stay that way.
In my opinion, it will take a considerable length of time for prices to return to their 2006 levels, and that will most likely happen via inflation rather than appreciation.
For ongoing real estate numbers, go to www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com. 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. |
