Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Wasilla Real Estate Market Memo for July 28-Aug 3, 2009 August 7th, 2009

Categories: Monday Market Memo

This the real estate report for Palmer, Wasilla, and Mat-Su Real Estate for the week of July 28-Aug 3, 2009.

This was an end of the month surge in closings. Many people wait until the end of the month to close because the out of pocket costs to the buyer are lower at that time. That is why the last week of the month is almost always higher in closings.

We had a lot of new listings hit the market as well, but with the pendings, closings and expireds the inventory dropped this week. At this rate it looks like we will not top 1,000 this summer after all.

If you are planning to get in on the first time home buyer incentives of an $8,000 tax rebate you will need to jump soon. The deadline is November 30, 2009. That means that you have to close by that time. People that were planning to have a house built to close by that time have just about waited too long. But it’s not too late for one that is already up.

Give me a call or send me a note if you want to find out about houses that qualify for both the $8,000 tax rebate AND the $7,500 energy rebate. We have several buyers in those two programs now. They will receive over $15,000 after closing to put against their mortgages…or to just put in the bank.

Based on information from AK MLS, Inc. for the period but not compiled or published by AK MLS, Inc. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Wasilla Real Estate News, Monday Market Memo for July 21-27, 2009 July 27th, 2009

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla, Palmer, and Matanuska Valley Real Estate Statistics.

These are the numbers for the week of July 21-27, 2009 and include all residential sales in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The vast majority of real estate activity, (about 80%), is in Palmer and Wasilla.

We had only 28 new listings last week which is less than we have seen for the past month or so. Our inventory still went up but only by 4.

Sales Volume down

Comparing this summer to last summer, (May 1 up to today), we have to say that closings are way down. Actually, I just looked at the statistics and we are down 15% in the amount of closings over last summer and down 33% over 2007.

Price unchanged

Sill, the price remains almost the same over that time period. The median price this year is $210,123 and the median price for 2007 was $213,250. That’s only a 1.5% reduction…which is essentially no change.

Inventory Up

The total amount of houses for sale is up about 8% over last summer which isn’t a huge increase. Still any increase combined with a lower sales volume tends to put pressure on prices. We will know more in a couple months. Stay tuned.

If you would like to know what your house can sell for in todays market, give me a call. 907 232-7900

Based on information from AK MLS, Inc. for the period but not compiled or published by AK MLS, Inc. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Wasilla Real Estate News Market Memo for June 30-July 6, 2009 July 6th, 2009

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Here are the real estate statistics for Wasilla, Palmer, and the rest of the Mat-Su Valley. These numbers are for single family residences. If you would like specific information for some other type of real estate, drop me an email.

This was a strong week for Mat-Su real estate. If we take this week as an indication things are getting busier. We have more pendings and more closings than normal.

I believe that buyers are beginning to realize that the low interest rates may not last. Also, the first time home buyer rebate of $8,000 is scheduled to go away by Dec 1 so time is of the essence.

There are some great properties out there. I sent out my deals of the week last Friday. If you didn’t get it, drop me a line and ask for it. Some of the properties on that list are already sold, but some are still available.

Based on information from AK MLS, Inc. for the period but not compiled or published by AK MLS, Inc. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Written by Marty Van Diest 2 Comments »

Wasilla Real Estate, Monday Market Memo for June 23-29, 2009 June 29th, 2009

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Here are the statistics for all single family residential real estate in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for this week. This includes Wasilla, Palmer, and all the other areas in the borough.

The stats show pretty much what we would expect for mid-summer. Activity is a little bit slower, but houses are still selling. The lower priced homes are obviously in more demand.

Below is a chart from Tim Vereide of Prudential. Tim has been collecting data on pending sales compared to active listings for a couple years now. His colleage, Karen Allam took the data and put it on a chart. The ratio is the number of pending listings compared to the total number of active listings on the market. Currently the ratio is almost 25% which is near the high of the last few years.

Click on the chart to expand:

The deals of the week are going out today. Let me know if you want to get the email. Go here to sign up

Statistical information was in part taken from the Alaska MLS and the Mat-Su MLS and is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Monday Market Memo, June 8-15, 2009 June 15th, 2009

Categories: Monday Market Memo, Wasilla Real Estate News

Palmer and Wasilla real estate statistics for June 8-15, 2009

These statistics are for single family residential homes in the entire Mat-Su Borough. This includes all the towns from Talkeetna and Trapper Creek to Sutton and Chickaloon.

We went over 900 listings by a good amount this week. With 63 new listings and only 14 closings it was bound to happen. There were 35 pendings this week, so that bodes good for the future. The interesing thing about the pending sales is that 25 of them are new construction.

The fact that new construction can continue to compete well against existing home sales shows that housing prices have not dropped significantly. It is also a warning to home sellers that you have to price your home well below the new construction prices. Buyers will opt for new construction every time unless there is a large price difference.

New houses generally are built to 5 star plus standards so they not only qualify for the $7,500 energy rebate, they also have lower utility bills and maintanence costs. First time home buyers also get the $8,000 tax rebate and often combine it with the energy rebate on new homes.

I met with Nick Fonov of Pacific North Contruction today with a couple that was represented by Trevor Olson of IEC Realty. These people are first time home buyers, so they qualify for the $8,000 tax rebate and they will also get the $7,500 energy rebate. For less than $220,000 Pacific North can build them an 1850 square foot 4 bedroom, two and a half bath home with a two car garage on one acre. That is pretty tough competition for existing home sellers.

I am working with several home sellers that recognise that their house not only needs to be in top shape, it needs to be priced well to compete in this market. Here is a prime example.

Based on information from AK MLS, Inc. for the period but not compiled or published by AK MLS, Inc. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.