Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Take a look at the overview chart to the left. You can expand it by clicking on it. Notice the top red line, this is the total number of listings. You can see the fluctuation from winter to summer. The months are labeled on the bottom and they run from October 2009 until Sept 2011.

I am most intrigued by the relationship of the new listings, (brown line), to the sold listings, (black line). There are certain times every year when these lines intersect. These are during the winter months. While sales do decline during the winter, they don’t change as much as do new listings. People tend to put their houses on the market in spring and summer and then take them off the market in the winter.

The important thing to be learned here is that there are few new listings in the winter but there are still buyers during that time. Although it is counter-intuitive, winter is not a bad time to list your home. If you hit the market with a good house that is priced to sell you will be competing with fewer sellers. A lot of the homes on the market in the winter are summer left-overs and foreclosures so a good home with a good price will get a lot of attention.

Another thing to notice is that there are not any huge trends in this chart. The normal seasonal fluctuations are taking place but there isn’t a lot of movement either way. Interest rates are almost unbelievably low right now but that doesn’t mean that buyers are flocking to the market. They are coming in at about the same rate as they have for the last few years.

I compared this Septembers sales with last year and notice almost no difference. This September we had 103 closed sales at a median price of $219,900 compared to last years sales of 99 with a median price of $220,000. So we had 4 more sales this year with almost the same median price.

I would have to say that sales and prices are steady right now. In fact I took a look at the last 12 months in the Mat-Su and found we had 1190 sales at a median price of $207,000 compared to the previous 12 months where there were 1196 sales at a median price of $205,000. If that isn’t a flat market I don’t know what is.

This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by, and to, the subscribers of Alaska Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (AK MLS, Inc.). AK MLS, Inc. does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. is for its own use and may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »