Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Wasilla Real Estate Monday Market Memo for July 14-21, 2008 July 21st, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate statistics for the week of July 14–21, 2008.  These are the numbers for the whole Matanuska-Susitna Borough. 

It looks like we closed some of the spurt of pendings from a few weeks ago because the closed sales are up a little.  Pending sales remain mediocre and total inventory climbed again for the week.

New construction was still a significant part of the sales.  Of the closed sales 5 were new construction.  Builders are still fairly competitive in this market.  But new construction is not driving the market like it was in 2005.  In 2005 30 percent of the closed sales were new construction. 

Other markets in the country are driven by foreclosures but ours isn’t.  There are foreclosures out there and they made up 3 of the 32 closings for the week. 

I have an automated list of new foreclosure listings.  If you would like to be on that list just send me an email.  You will be notified the day a foreclosure listing hits the market.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Monday Market Memo for July 7-14, 2008 July 14th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate presents the weekly statistics for residential real estate sales for Wasilla, Palmer, and the rest of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

It was a  pretty steady week this week, pendings at 30 and closings at 23 is about average.  It doesn’t appear that we are setting any records.  Usually August is a more active month than July, so we will have to wait and see.

The average price of closings this week is high.  Four homes over $400,000 closed this week which  probably is a record for the year, so I could be wrong in my in assessment of the week.  Many of the higher priced homes are now appearing to be a good value for people who shop in Anchorage. 

Speaking of a good value…here is one.  The sellers want this house sold so they have lowered it to $309,900 which is much lower than it’s real value.  I expect it to sell this week.  I am holding an open house there Tuesday, (7/15/2008), evening.  The public is welcome to come between 5–7:30 PM. 

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Monday Market Memo for June 30-July 7, 2008 July 8th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Here are the Mat-Su real estate statistics for the week. 

The total inventory dropped for the second week in a row.  With 37 pending and 32 closed for the week we are seeing relatively healthy numbers.  Mid-summer sales are usually a little slower than spring and fall sales but this years seems to be a little different.

Most people that are interested in getting into a house before school starts should go into contract within the next two weeks.  People will be trying to do that so the pending sales will probably remain at a higher point for the next two weeks.

Take a look at tomorrows post on how one investor is successfully selling his inventory very easily and quickly even in a slower market.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Monday Market Memo, June 23-30, 2008 June 30th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate News residential sales statistics for the Mat-Su Borough.  This report includes the sales in Palmer, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Willow, Big Lake, Houston, Sutton and all the other communities in the Borough. 

Over 80% of the real estate activity is in the Wasilla and Palmer areas with the outlying areas occupying only a small fraction of the business.

Sales activity was definitely up this week.  I think the pending sales are the highest so far this year.  Closed sales hit 32 so that is healthy as well. 

I believe that many buyers that were waiting in the wings have seen the higher interest rates on the horizon and decided to step in now rather than wait. 

It is not uncommon to see a slight drop in sales activity during the mid-summer months was people entertain out of town guests, fish and generally enjoy the short Alaska summer.  But it seems that serious buyers are definitely still out there.

Buyers that want to be in a house before school starts really need to make their choices now.  School starts in just over 6 weeks and that gives just enough time to complete a normal transaction.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Monday Market Memo for June 16-23, 2008 June 26th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

For the first time in a LONG time I missed the Monday Memo, so here it is three days late.  I was in Kasilof catching red salmon until Tuesday night, yesterday was spent catching up with real estate and taking care of 40 fish.

These statistics are for the week of the 16th–23rd of June for the whole Mat-Su Borough.

We actually had a pretty good week.  Pendings and closings are both up.  New listings were up as well which put out inventory up to 917.  Notice that the total days on market for all the inventory is at 127 but the closed and pendings are much lower. 

Obviously, the houses that are sellable sell at a fairly reasonable marketing period while the marketing time for all the inventory continues to grow.

Looking through the 38 pendings for the week a couple of things stand out that tend to define sellable houses.

First, most of the them are in top condition.  In fact many of them are new construction at surprisingly attractive prices. 

Second, they were priced to attract attention.  Most had prices that were noticeably under the competition.  Here is an example, a brand new victorian style home with a view on more than 2 acres for only $119 per square foot.  Granted, it’s a large home so the total price was still much higher than the average sales price for the valley, but the price compared to the other homes brought in a buyer.

Third, many of them had something else.  They had a view,  unique location, unusual style or something else to set them apart. 

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.