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Market Snapshot 02/22/2010

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Premier Partners

Market Stats 02/22/2010

Market Snapshot 02/22/2010

Market Watch, Vancouver, WASometimes moving away from something can help put things in focus. I have not been as diligent on watching my local market as normal. Now I see some changes and I wonder "What caused that?".

For example,December saw a big drop in the number of active listings - and a drop in pending. In February, we've seen the number of active listings have risen back up to the October levels. Hard numbers are one thing, and another number I watch is ratio of active-to-pending.

So, you may ask, "How are those ratios?" Well, not like October. Perhaps because it will take some market time for the new actives to become the new pendings, what the ratio is now suggests more homes sitting than selling. It's not a bad ratio though, if faster market turnover is good. More like the ratios we had in August.

The other change that may be worth mentioning is price averages. When a market is as small as ours, it doesn't take too many high end sales to skew the apparent average home sale price. So, as a gross measure of where prices are moving on average, I do a simple count of homes sold over $250,000 and homes sold under that price point. Currently 65% of our sold inventory is under $250,000. That's by number of homes sold. Compare this to 69% of homes sold last year were under $250,000 and we could see an argument for saying home prices increased. Or could we?

Our market is still about 30% short sale or bank owned. I think pricing is still strongly influenced by pricing of those properties, which are going to be priced on the lower range of fair market value. Just so you see the point I'm making: on the LOWER RANGE OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.

When you're ready to sell your home in Vancouver, WA or anywhere in Clark County, realize that homes are selling every day and you can sell in THIS market with 2010 price expectations.

Whether you're looking for your first home, or possibly your last, or selling either of them, I have the patience and experience to help you make the best choice in Vancouver Washington. The Natural Choice in real estate is working with a professional real estate agent (me!) at Krogseng Real Estate who listens to your needs and works as a trusted advisor to get the best solution to your housing needs. We will give you a new attitude about real estate. If you are concerned about living a more sustainable lifestyle, Vancouver Washington may be the city for you. I specialize in knowing the neighborhoods in Vancouver Washington that have great walkscore ratings. Whether you want the low-maintenance condo lifestyle, a home that gets you off the grid, or a home that is something in between in Clark County, the natural choice in real estate will be someone that can help you find just the right home and neighborhood. If you're looking for homes that have been certified as green, you'll want to know I keep informed of the newly constructed homes and their various green certifications. Visit Krogseng Real Estate for more information.

Comments (2)

Todd Clark - Retired
eXp Realty LLC - Tigard, OR
Principle Broker Oregon

Aren't you at family reunion? If you did this from there, then you are getting dedicated!

Feb 23, 2010 08:07 AM
Lynn Krogseng
Keller Williams Premier Partners - Vancouver, WA

Todd - I regret the missed opportunity to impress you, but I must confess I was home for this post.

Apr 10, 2010 05:04 PM