Bottom of the Bellingham Real Estate Market??

It could be that the “bottom” of the real estate market in Whatcom County is in the review mirror. At seven months into 2012, the number of homes sold (units sold) in all of Whatcom County Year To Date (YTD) through the end of July 2012 was 1,123 units compared to 979 from Jan 1 2011 through the end of July 2011.  That’s up 14.7% in the number of homes/units sold.  There is a stable and increasing activity level and in most all Whatcom County MLS Zones including Bellingham – more homes are actually selling this year compared to last. And, while the trend of increasing numbers of homes/units selling actually started back in 2011, both asking and selling (sold) prices continued the trend of significant decreases throughout 2011. That is no longer the case. The Average “Sold” price for all of Whatcom County in July of 2012 was $300,446 in July of 2011 it was $288,346. That’s an increase of 4.2% in Sold prices comparing July 2012 to July 2011. And the YTD for Sold prices Whatcom County wide are flat with just a very slight decrease which I believe will actually be an increase by the end of Sept.  The Average List prices went from $388,670 in July of 2011 to $399,385 in July of 2012. That’s an increase of 2.76% in list/asking prices. To top things off, the inventory of available homes is down significantly. In July 2011 there were 1,592 Active Listings for buyers to choose from. In July 2012 there were only 1,381 homes on the market. That’s a 13.3% drop in available inventory.  Thus with more homes selling, both asking and sold prices increasing, a shrinking inventory combined with the fact that there’s a significant reduction in the number of short sale and repo homes coming on the market all add up to a market that’s finally on the up swing.