Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

My Dad’s a Blogger! January 17th, 2008

Categories: About Wasilla Real Estate News

Who says the internet is for the young generation.  Sure, my teenagers seem to find their way around the web like it’s their back yard, but we more mature folk can use it as well.

My Dad, Gale Van Diest, seems to take to it naturally.  He introduced my to Skype, and talks with his grandkids on Instant Messenger.  Can you believe it…he’s even on Facebook!

Now he has a blog…check it out at Gale’s Blog .

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Wasilla Real Estate, Monday Market Memo January 15th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

For the week of January 7–14, 2008 here are the real estate statistics for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  This includes Wasilla, Palmer and surrounding areas.

These statistics are residential house sales, everything from cabins to mansions.

The new listings took a big jump this week. If you read the previous Monday Market Memos you would have expected that.  Are total inventory increased by about 25 listings this week.  The inventory will likely continue to grow over the next few months.

Pendings and sales came up slightly, I expect that they will hold pretty steady with slight increases over the next few months.  In the summer we usually see these running at about 30–40 per week, so this isn’t bad for mid-winter.

An interesting observation is that the average price for the total inventory has dropped about $20,000 over the last year while the average sales price has remained pretty steady.  Perhaps that means that sellers are starting to list their homes at more realistic asking prices.

We have been pretty busy this past week, writing offers on 3 properties and listing another 3.  This is good action for this time of year.  If you would like us to help you find a property or sell the one you have, give a call on the cell.  907 232–7900.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Wasilla Real Estate: Monday Market Memo 1/1-1/7/2008 January 7th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

These are the real estate stats for the first week of 2008.  New listings are starting to hit the market.  More than twice as many new listings came on the market compared to the previous week. 

But we had enough properties leave the market so that the total active listings actually dropped for about the 5th week in a row.  We have about 7 months worth of inventory at this week’s level of absorption.  That is still a buyer’s market.

 There are a lot of new listings in the works right now.  I’m sure we will see quite a few more choice properties hit the market in the next couple months. 

Interest rates are very low right now.  If you haven’t been paying attention you might be surprised to find that 30 year fixed mortgages can be locked in at 5.6% and it might go lower.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Wasilla Real Estate Predictions for 2008 January 2nd, 2008

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

The Wasilla and Palmer real estate market indicators are mostly positive for 2008.  Below are some of the positive things going on in the valley which create continued demand for housing.

Retail: Target, Sportsmans Warehouse and many other stores are opening or have recently opened.  Retail jobs are not high paying but they do provide jobs for quite a few people.

Prison: Apparently the prison in Palmer is going to be expanded and another one is to be built in Point Mackenzie.  These will provide good construction jobs and long term jobs for state employees. 

Natural Gas: This is not about a gas line from the North Slope but about local coal bed methane production.  Fowler Oil and Gas plans the first well in the spring of 2008.  Many sites throughout the valley are being considered.  If they tap into profitable gas, this will be a major boost for the local community.

Military: The military bases in Anchorage continue to grow.  This means that many of the soldiers and airmen are looking for homes close to the base.  Wasilla and Palmer are both less than a one hour commute.

Oil Prices: What can I say…they are through the roof.  If oil prices remain high, economic activity in Alaska will continue to be robust. 

The Mat-Su Valley is a bedroom community for the entire state.  People live here who work in Anchorage, the North Slope oil fields, Gold and Zinc mines throughout the state, and on fishing boats in Bristol Bay and the waters off the Alaska Peninsula.  Our local economy is tied directly to Alaska’s economy which is mostly tied to oil. 

In the short term, (10–30 years), Alaska will continue to profit from oil and gas.  But we must think about what happens when solar energy becomes economically viable?  I believe that is inevitable and will happen within 30 years or less.  There will be no demand for oil and gas then, we will need to sell something else…or move.

……………………………………………………………………

Negative:

Alaska is really a mini-economy and the Mat-Su Valley is a micro-economy, we are completely overshadowed by the national and global economies.  No matter what the bumper stickers say, we really do need to care about how they do it “outside”. 

The financial markets are still in a turmoil, and depending on who you listen to, they could get better or a whole lot worse.  If the financial markets get a lot worse, we are in for continued tough times because it will be harder to get home mortgages, and business loans.

We have seen about a 20% decline in real estate volume this year that is primarily a result of the financial crisis.  People that could get a mortgage last year, cannot this year.  That creates a lower demand. 

Because we did not see the real estate frenzy that many of the big national markets had, we haven’t been hit as hard as they have during the credit crunch.  Many of the big markets in the South West and South East part of the country are reeling from 40–50 percent declines in property values.  These things affect us locally as well.

So all our predictions about the local economy are tempered by the fact that we are really along for the global economic ride.  It’s a pretty sobering realization that the building materials here in the Mat-Su Valley have to be shipped from all over the world.  If there is a major hiccup in China’s economy…we will feel it right here in Wasilla.

Written by Marty Van Diest 4 Comments »

Monday Market Memo…on Tuesday January 1st, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

This are the statistics for the last week of 2007.  All the numbers are down a little because of the two holidays of Christmas and New Years. 

Notice that the total active listings dropped by almost 100 since last week.  That is because of the fact that many listings expire Dec 31.  Not to worry, we will have a huge influx of listings this month and next to make up for it.

I am working on another post with my predictions for 2008.  It should be done by tonight…check back.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »