Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Wasilla Real Estate Prices, 2000-2007 October 16th, 2007

Categories: Market Trends

We have seen quite an increase in prices over the last seven years.  Below, are the figures from the MLS system that show many more homes sold this year compared to 2000 and at a much higher price. 

Notice that the average days on the market for sales in 2000 was 140 days.  This year so far it has been only 77 days.  Of course the average days on the market for the entire inventory in general is much longer than that.  Many of those homes will never sell.

If you average the total increase in median value over the last five years it comes to about 7 1/2 % per year.  That is tame compared to some of the areas of the country with huge increases.  Some of the large West Coast cities saw single year increases of more than 40%.  Some of these same cities are currently experiencing decreasing home prices of about the same magnitude.

Here are the prices from 2000 and from 2007.

Jan 1, 2000–Oct16, 2000  560 sales, Median price $130,058   140 dom

Jan 1, 2007–Oct 16, 2007  977 sales, Median price $217,500    77 dom

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Wasilla Real Estate News, Monday Morning Market Memo for Oct 15, 2007 October 15th, 2007

Categories: Market Trends, Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate
News Statistics for 10/8–10/15/07

For the second week in a row the pending sales price has averaged less than $200,000.  This is where the most market activity is taking place.

There are quite a few builders targeting the below $200,000 market so a good amount of the pending sales are new construction.  We have represented a lot buyers with new construction in this price bracket this year.  We can help you find a builder from this price on up to this house we recently pended on Hart Lake. 

The total inventory rose a little this week.  It should begin to decline as we enter the snowy season.  The buyers that are still in the market during the winter will be starved for new listings so you may want to think about entering the market when most people are not.

Give me a call on my cell to discuss your personal selling and buying strategies.  907 232–7900.

I will actually sit down to discuss your real estate needs, we try to help you, not sell you.

Real Estate Consulting…or Real Estate Selling?

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Matanuska-Susitna School District Boundaries October 14th, 2007

Categories: For Buyers

Buyers often focus on a particular schools boundaries in their home search.  Sometimes their children are already in a particular school or perhaps they have heard good things about a particular school. For the past ten years or so the Colony District has been the most popular. 

I happen to live in the Colony District but chose Palmer High School for our one daughter who attends public school because it has an International Baccalaureate Program.  We teach our other children at home.

I am usually a little uncomfortable to tell someone that a home is in their desired school district because these boundaries can change.  Couple that with the fact that new district boundaries were historically hard to determine.  You had to get a hard copy of the new map after the boundaries were changed. 

Thankfully, the Mat-Su School District has put these boundaries on web.  All the boundary maps are listed here.  Please remember that these boundaries can change with shifts of population or when a new school is built. 

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Fly Boys Cafe, Between Palmer and Wasilla October 12th, 2007

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

This little cafe has intrigued me for quite some time. I’m not sure who had the idea to remodel this old barn into a restaurant, but it was a stroke of genius.

Located just off the Parks Highway, near the intersection with the Glenn Highway, it is in a good central location.  It’s tucked in behind Gator Glass, click here for a map.

It has a unique Alaskan atmosphere combining an old valley barn with an Alaskan bush pilot theme.  Photos of bush pilots and planes line the walls, an old bent prop that obviously has a great story leans in a corner.

A beautiful view of Pioneer Peak is right out the window.  It just a fantastic place to sit down with some friends to enjoy some great food. 

Speaking of food, sisters Natalie Forbis and Anna Sippey are the cooks.  The menu varies from day to day but one thing stays the same, down-home  good cooking. 

Here is the menu when I stopped by, click to enlarge.

There is enough room for a good sized group of people, and in the summer you can even eat in the hayloft. 

P.S. Ignore the spider webs…it is decorated for Halloween.

If you would like to get the latest from Wasilla Real Estate News, just click on the subscribe button.  It will automatically go to your email when posted.

Written by Marty Van Diest 2 Comments »

Monday Morning Market Memo October 7th, 2007

Categories: For Sellers, Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate News
Real Estate Statistics for 10/1–10/8/07

Here are the numbers for houses sold this week.  This chart shows residential homes only.  It does not include vacant land, commercial, or multi-family homes.

We had 28 pendings.  That is still a respectable number for the week.  A little down from last week but not bad.  Notice that the average price for new pendings this week is below $200,000. 

Many of those pending homes are brand new pre-sold homes.  These are homes for which a builder has contracted with a buyer to build a home on a particular lot.  Builders aren’t blind, they can see where the demand currently is and they are creating plans to meet it.

Notice the two charts below:  The one on the left is for the Matanuska Susitna Borough as a whole and the one on the right is for the expanded core area only.  The expanded core includes Palmer, Wasilla, Big Lake, and the Knik-Goose Bay road out to about mile 9.

Click on the charts to enlarge.

I include both charts to show that although the Mat-Su Borough is about the size of the State of Iowa, almost all the real estate activity takes place in the expanded core area. 

Looking at these charts raises an interesting contrarian strategy for home sellers.  Notice how the new listings are at their lowest ebb in November and December.  New listings are the ones that receive the most attention.  The two weeks after your house hits the market are the times you generally receive the most attention.

If you were to put your house on the market in November or December, you would be competing with about 1/2 as many new sellers than you would at other times of the year. While there aren’t as many buyers then either, notice that the amount of closed sales does not drop as dramatically as do new listings. 

Your house would still need to be in good shape, and in the part of the market where there is a demand.  For example, although there are 35 houses on the market currently over $750,000, guess how many show up as sold on the MLS in the past year…ZERO.  So, it won’t help you if you are overpriced for the market, but it certainly could if your home is in a lower price bracket.

If you would like consultation about strategies to buy or sell real estate, call 907 373–0999.  That number rings my cell phone and Jay’s at the same time.

Click here for more info on consultation, as opposed to sales.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.