Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Wasilla Four Plex Sales August 28th, 2008

Categories: Market Trends, Monday Market Memo

Jay was working on a CMA for a four plex and came across a surprising statistic. So far this year in the Palmer and Wasilla areas there have been only 5 sales of fourplexes, and 4 of them were foreclosures.  These fourplexes sold for a median price of $220,000.

There are currently 13 fourplexes for sale in the same Palmer/Wasilla area.  They are being offered at a median price of $325,000.  It’s easy to see that there is about 2 years worth of inventory on the market.  There is also a large gap between the expectations of the sellers and the buyers. Sellers are still expecting to get a price that is only possible in a hot market.

During the relatively hot market of 2003–2005 people were purchasing four plexes at prices higher than the rents justied.  They were counting on appreciation and tax benefits to make up for their loss on the rental income. 

Appreciation has stalled for the time being.  Fourplex buyers have also stalled.  They are still willing to buy but the deal needs to make sense, or is that “cents”.  It isn’t normal for an investor to purchase a property knowing that it will lose money for the forseeable future.  Unless the current rental income after all expenses currently shows a profit the buyers will stay on the sidelines.

At the same time there is some indication that rents may begin to rise.  I talked to someone who advertised a two bedroom apartment on craigslist just yesterday.  They received over 20 inquiries in one day. 

While real estate sales have declined, our population has not gone down.  The people have to live somewhere and many of them are renting.  Rental prices will likely increase as a response. 

It may be a good time to purchase a multi-family unit…just do it carefully and find one that makes “cents”.  If you would like any help looking give me a call.  907 232–7900.

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Monday Market Memo…for August 11-August 25 August 26th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo, Wasilla Real Estate News

Well, I missed last week, so here are two weeks in one.

Below are the numbers for last week.  The week of August 11–18.  Notice the high number of new listings for the third week in a row.  I think that is the largest surge of the year so far.

Pendings, and Closings were healthy, in fact they were significantly higher than the average for the year..

This past week saw the numbers for everything except the total inventory drop.  The change for new listings, closings, and pendings was not significant.

But the total active listings is now at the highest level since I have been keeping these statistics and it appears to be still climbing.  The increasing inventory indicates a reduction in demand. 

Below are the statistics for the week of Aug 18–25, 2008.

In fact the inventory has increased by 12% since May of this year.  If the inventory continues to increase, it will push the Days On Market, (DOM), numbers out even further.  That will create pressure for people to lower their prices to get their homes sold.

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Monday Market Memo…8-4 through 8-11-2008 August 12th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate statistics.  These numbers are for the whole Matanuska Susitna Borough, including Palmer, Trapper Creek, Sutton, Eureka and all points between.

Fifty seven new houses hit the market this week.  Combine that with 72 coming on the market last week and you should have a hefty increase in inventory.  We did see a significant jump last week but the total inventory actually dropped by two houses this week.  Between the 31 pending sales and the other sellers who dropped out of the market for some other reason, it made up for the 57 new sellers.

Twenty eight closings is a little bit on the higher side of average for this summer but we certainly aren’t setting any records.  We should continue at about this pace for the next couple months before it begins to drop off for the winter. 

This week should see quite a few new construction pendings because of the parade of homes.  I am still surprised at how new construction homes continue to be competitive.  Many of the builders are moving up to five star plus houses.  Some are moving into the super-insulated homes that surpass five star plus ratings.  These homes save on energy costs every month for the home owner.

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Monday Market Memo…July 28-Aug 4, 2008 August 8th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Whoops.  I missed this on Monday.  So this is the Monday Memo done on Friday.  The statistics are for the correct days, however.

We certainly had a surge of new listings.  The total inventory increased and pending and closed sales held about steady.

It looks like a lot of people have decided to sell before winter.  That’s a little surprising to me, they should have put their houses on the market earlier. 

There have been some good deals again this week.  A log house on Cottonwood Creek sold for $185,000, several brand new houses sold for less than $175,000, and a couple of good lots sold for the mid-$30s price ranges.  Let me know if you want to be set up for auto-alerts if a property that meets your criteria hits the market.

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Monday Market Memo for July 21-28, 2008 July 28th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Here are the statistics for the week of July 21–28, 2008 for Wasilla, Palmer, and the rest of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

This was a pretty good week for new pending sales hitting 49 in total.  The overall inventory dropped and I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a trend as we move into late summer.  The 24 closed sales is about average for the year so far.

Of the 49 pendings, 14 of them are new construction and 5 were foreclosures.  This is an interesting mix that shows that our real estate market is certainly not dead.   Builders are still providing a good product for the money.  Buyers have a chance to look at the existing homes including the foreclosures and a healthy percentage of them are choosing to build a new home.

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