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Fairbanks, Alaska - January 2008 Market Report

By
Home Builder with Jesse Clifton & Associates AREC License #15292
appears as though the Fairbanks real estate market is still alive and kicking. We have been fortunate in that Fairbanks and Interior Alaska did not see the speculative boom that many places in the lower 48 did and as such, our sluggish market is just that, sluggish. We are not quite to life support stage... yet.

Before I get into the specific market performance I want to encourage those Fairbanks buyers and sellers reading this to seek the counsel of a competent, market savvy real estate agent (I happen to know a great team, btw. :) to help you evaluate individual homes for sale or to properly position your home for sale. These numbers represent the movement of the entire Fairbanks real estate market - there are sections of the market that are performing quite well and conversely there are segments that are underperforming. Please contact us with questions about a specific segment of the market or a individual property. The correct interpretation and application of these numbers will save you not only a potential headache but time and money as well.

Now, ready, set go... on to the numbers

Sales of individual homes increased slightly in February over January '08, but are still down almost 27% as compared to January 2007 and 24% lower than January 2006. As the saying goes, "It's the economy, silly" or in our case "It's the price, silly." I think we're going to have to see prices drop a little before sales truly begin to pick up in earnest.

The meat and potatoes of any market report is the sales price - are pricing climbing or dropping like a rock? February saw the average sales price decline to $213,825 from January's $215,786. The good news is that historically, the average sales price has been holding steady and even showing a slight increase. As compared to the average price in 2007, we're up 2.3%. That's not a huge number but it's not a negative number either.

The average days on the market decreased by almost 31% from January, which is good news, but it's still more than double the 2007 year-end average. At 117 days it's also 139% higher than February 2007. As homes take longer to sell, many sellers are lowering the asking price to entice buyers and to stand out in the sea of homes for sale.

Another number that's often overlooked is the list to sales price ratio. Simply put, this is the difference between the list price and the ultimate selling price. This is a difficult number to calculate because our MLS allows, and some would say encourages, members to manipulate sales data. February numbers show sellers received, on average, 90.4% of their asking price, which is a slight increase from January's 89.5%. The 2007 year end average was 96.6%

The absorption rate, calculated in months, is the amount of time it would take to sell every listing currently on the market, assuming no new homes were listed for sale. Current numbers show it would take 9.2 months to sell everything on the market - a dramatic 119% increase from September 2007.

Confused yet? If so, you're not alone. Understanding a homes "value" requires that all of these items be taken into account along with the sales of comparable homes. If you're shopping for a home, possibly PCS'ing to Fort Wainwright or Eielson Air Force Base or if you're just thinking of making a local move, give us a call. We can help you identify those homes that are good values in today’s market. If you're considering placing your home on the market or just curious about your homes market value, Call or email us today for a free no obligation market analysis.

Number of Homes Sold
Click to Enlarge February 2008 Fairbanks Homes Sold

Total Sales Volume
Click to Enlarge February 2008 Fairbanks Total Sales Volume

Average Sales Price
Click to Enlarge February 2008 Fairbanks Average Sales Price

Average Days on Market
Click to Enlarge February 2008 Fairbanks Average Days on Market

Average List/Sales Price Ratio
Click to Enlarge February 2008 Fairbanks Average List to Sales Price Ratio

Absorption Rate
Click to Enlarge February 2008 Fairbanks Absorption Rate


Jesse & Kathy 

Clifton, Spouses Selling Houses - Fairbanks, Alaska Realtors

Jesse & Kathy Clifton, better known as 'The Spouses' are full time Realtors serving Fairbanks Alaska buyers and sellers. They specialize in residential real estate; new and existing construction as well as undeveloped land in Fairbanks, North Pole, Ft. Wainwright, Eielson Air Force Base and Interior Alaska. Visit their website to review the fee market reports designed to keep you updated on the local Fairbanks Alaska real estate market. Have specific questions? Feel free to contact them anytime. They would love to hear from you.

Tour Alaska on The-Spouses.com - Search Fairbanks MLS

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Comments (7)

Dan Forbes
Bradenton, FL
Great report, especially the graphs.  I like your presentation.
Mar 10, 2008 10:54 PM
TeamCHI - Complete Home Inspections, Inc.
Complete Home Inspections, Inc. - Brentwood, TN
Home Inspectons - Nashville, TN area - 615.661.029
Good report y'all. I hope that you do not get to the life support stage up there. Hopefully things will start turning around.
Mar 10, 2008 11:23 PM
Karen Kruschka
RE/MAX Executives - Woodbridge, VA
- "My Experience Isn't Expensive - It's PRICELESS"
That is an intresting and thorough report.  Did the graphics come fro your MLS or are they your own design?  Karen
Mar 11, 2008 03:04 AM
Frank Rubi
Frank Rubi Real Estate, LLC - Metairie, LA
FrankRubiRealEstate.com
Jesse and Kathy, great job again on your market report. I am still running about 92% of asking price. All things consider your market although colder in temperature about the same.
Mar 11, 2008 07:06 AM
Margaret Woda
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Crofton, MD
Maryland Real Estate & Military Relocation

Look at those pretty graphs!  Great job! (How did you make them so you can click to enlarge?)

Wow, days on market DOWN?  We haven't seen that around here in a while!

Mar 11, 2008 02:52 PM
Jesse Clifton
Jesse Clifton & Associates - Fairbanks, AK

Dan - Thanks... I'm little overdue in getting this out.

Michael - I think we'll be ok... The market is what it is... we just have to deal with it.

Karen - Thanks.  The graphs and graphics are mine... I created them via excel.

Frank - 92% isn't bad at all.

Margaret - High praise from the market report Queen!  :)  I host the images on flickr; the smaller image is the display image... and I just link to a higher resolution version of the same image.  The smaller images are quicker to load.

Mar 12, 2008 04:24 PM
Wendy Montoya, REALTOR® Broker Associate, 254-315-4906
Towne Adams REALTORS - Waco, TX
Excellent market report. Seems as though you can really get a good feel of things just by viewing this post. I am taking notes for my upcoming reports. Need to give them more umph.
Mar 13, 2008 08:00 AM