Yesterday I received the 2nd Quarter 2008 lots sales figures and to my surprise there was a 46% increase. That is not saying much though since lot sales increased to a meager 69 for all of Snohomish County from 47 in the first quarter.

The price in which a lot sells for is the most important factor when forecasting what a new construction home will sell for on that lot. If a developer gets into a piece of dirt for X amount of dollars and forecasts a selling price of Y but the current market will only bear Z it leaves little to no margin for the developer as well as the future builders.

Lots can be listed for any price but if they are not selling, which the beginning 2007 to current 2008 have shown (93% decrease in total sales), then the prices are just to high. The price has to be low enough to make economical sense all the way across the board and in a market where inventory is high; prices have to be highly competitive otherwise the lots will have market times of 365 days or more.

City/Area	Plat Name	Sale Price	Per Lot	Sq/Ft	# Lots
Arlington	Bryant Estates 2	$200,000	$200,000	44,500	1
Arlington	Sun Peak Estates	$229,000	$229,000	43,600	1
Arlington	River Bend	$217,000	$217,500	43,600	1
Everett	Koon/Grayson S.P.	$163,000	$163,000	7,705	1
Everett	Jubie Short Plat	$160,000	$160,000	10,945	1
Granite Falls	Indian Summer Park	$70,175	$70,175	7,200	1
Granite Falls	Indian Summer Park	$73,675	$73,675	8,400	1
Granite Falls	Ryan's Mountain Meadows	$195,000	$195,000	49,000	1
Granite Falls	Diamond Ridge	$225,000	$225,000	71,100	1
Marysville	Marysville Meadows	$480,280	$240,160	6 Plex	2
Marysville	Sunnyside Ridge Div. 2	$1,224,000	$102,000	5,500	12
Marysville	Waldow Heights	$1,332,500	$102,500	7,000	13
Marysville	Emerald Short Plat	$150,000	$150,000	10,799	1
Northwest	R.I.C. Survey	$177,500	$177,500	20,376	1
Northwest	Alder Grove Estates	$175,500	$175,500	37,352	1
Northwest	Alder Grove Estates	$181,000	$181,000	40,732	1
Northwest	Gregory Estates	$1,100,000	$220,000	20,000	5
Northwest	Gregory Estates	$425,000	$141,665	20,000	3
Paine Field	Yuan Heng America S.P.	$630,897	$157,724	8,200	4
Sky Valley	R.I.C. Short Plat	$140,000	$140,000	21,500	4
Sky Valley	Aldergrove Meadows	$225,000	$225,000	43,560	1
Southwest	Maple Land Master Condo	$2,207,000	$147,180	2,500	15

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