Let's talk about what is really going on with real estate in my local area - Stanwood, Arlington, Camano Island and most of Snohomish County in WA.
The most important thing to remember is that Real Estate is LOCAL!
The strength of our economy is one reason why housing in our area has such a bright outlook. Our economy is great! With our three main diverse job hubs here - technology, aerospace and medical research not to mention the local coffee market and other strong retailers, our job growth is strong and we have seen some of the highest appreciation in the nation. Seattle still has an especially hot job market, and anticipates continued high paying jobs which will lead to many people who will continue to move to our area. The current estimates are around 135,000 over the next five years, because our economy is so strong. The Port of Seattle currently handles approximately 2 million containers annually and are anticipating doubling that number in the years to come. Some of the big name employers, like Boeing and Microsoft, are expanding payrolls and Costco is considering serious expansion into our region. This growth is helping Washington!
Home foreclosures may be at record highs nationally, but take a minute and look at what those numbers are for your area. If you hear the media saying that foreclosures are up 33%, what does that mean? In my market, only 1% of all loans went into foreclosure. Now only 1.33% of all home loans are anticipated. 1.33% doesn't sound nearly as scary as a 33% increase. Many local experts say that Snohomish County has been insulated from the mortgage crisis. I think a large reason for this is because fewer homes were purchased as investments in our area, versus states like Nevada, California or Florida.
Now, it is true that homes aren't appreciating as quickly as they have over the last several years or even selling as rapidly. This is actually a good thing and shows we are just returning to a normal, healthy market. It is not a sign of a housing meltdown. On Camano Island, instead of your home appreciating 11.4%, last year we saw appreciation rates at 5.8%.
According to a government report, residential construction in our area shows a 2.6 percent drop in housing starts. Compare that to 37.7 percent for the Northeast and 18.4 percent in the West, we are still going strong here too!
Another factor that I anticipate will affect our housing prices are the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. History has shown that anytime the Olympics (or the 1962 Seattle's World Fair for example) come to an area, the housing prices soar. Combine that with the fact that our area is doing everything imaginable to be able to drive business through Seattle (passing through Stanwood & Camano Island!!!) to Vancouver, and you have the making for a continued hot market for many, many years to come!
"Washington State continues to defy national trends in home prices, lending, and sales," Washington REALTORS® recently stated. "Nationally home prices are down; sub-prime mortgages and foreclosures are up. But, in Washington State, foreclosures and sub-prime lending occurred at lower rates than just about anywhere in the nation. Home appreciation in Washington also continues to out-perform the rest of the nation with year-to-year price increases every quarter since the spring of 1995."
With all this information, how can it not be a good time to buy and sell in Washington?
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Hi Jen,
I am happy for you guys in your market area, we are doing pretty good in the Hudson Valley, NY area.