Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Monday Market Memo for Dec 23-29, 2008 December 29th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Notice how few new homes came on the market this week.  Of course this week included Christmas so most people were busy with family and not listing their home. 

We also went below 700 in total inventory this week.  I expect the inventory to drop by more than 50 next week as we turn over a new year.  It will remain low until February or so when it will begin to build.

Three of the 10 closed homes in the past week were new construction which shows a comparatively healthy market compared to other parts of the country.  If a builder can still compete with the resale market you know that the prices haven’t dropped below the costs of construction.

Many parts of the country are completely driven by foreclosure homes that are selling from 40–50 percent lower than they did in 2005.  We have seen a weaker market here in Alaska than it was in 2005 but we certainly haven’t seen price drops of that magnitude.

Of course the reason places like Pheonix, Florida, Las Vegas and California are experiencing such huge declines is because they had such a rediculously fast run-up in prices.  We didn’t have that bubble either.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Monday Morning Market Memo for Dec 16-22, 2008 December 22nd, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate News Memo for Dec 16–22, 2008.  These are the statistics for single family residential homes in the whole Mat-Su Borough for the week.

This week was a lot better than last week which saw some of the lowest numbers for the last 3 years.  Even though this is the slowest time of the year, we may see a resurgence in demand because of the very low interest rates.

A couple of $400K homes pended this last week which is a good thing.  Demand has been slower on those homes and buyers have a lot of choices. 

Demand is still pretty good for homes under $250,000.  The market is competitive for sellers at all levels however.  Buyers will tend to walk away from offers fairly quickly.  So if you are a seller, market your home with a good sales price and don’t turn up your nose at buyers.  The next one may not come along for awhile.

Written by Marty Van Diest 2 Comments »

Wasilla Real Estate News, Monday Market Memo, Dec 9-15, 2008 December 15th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate News Market Statistics for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for the week of Dec 9–15, 2008.

This weeks numbers of closed sales, pending sales and new listings are the lowest I have recorded since starting these statistics about 3 years ago.

Only 3 pending sales for the whole Mat-Su Borough is pretty sobering.  Of course, this is the week before Christmas, the slowest time of the year, but only THREE PENDINGS?  And notice the median price of those three pending sales, only $133,000.

Another trend that I have been noticing lately is that the median asking price has been steadily dropping while the average Days on Market, (DOM), has been steadily rising.  This either indicates that the prices are dropping or at least that there is downward pressure on prices.

In order to actually prove that prices are rising or falling you need to used matched pairs.  That is, you need to have the same house, or almost the same house sell a year or two ago and then sell again today.  With several matched pairs you can show that prices are rising or falling.

I did this study last summer and found about a dozen matched pairs.  All but one sold for more this year than its previous sale of two years earlier.  I hope to find the time to do that again in the next week or so.

Feel free to call with any questions about the Mat-Su Real Estate market.  You can call 907 232–7900 or email me at [email protected]

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Monday Market Memo for Dec 2-8, 2008 December 9th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate News market statistics for the week of Dec 2–8, 2008.  These are the residential single family statistics that include all of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  This includes the larger cities of Wasilla and Palmer but also includes all the rest of the borough.

There were 29 new listings this week, but 14 of them were “to be builts” listed by one contractor.  These are homes that don’t even have a foundation in the ground.  The builder is advertising these homes in hopes that someone will want him to build it.  Most of them will not be built unless a buyer steps forward.

The total inventory dropped again this week by a substantial amount.  It will likely go below 700 by the end of the year.

Twenty one new pendings is still a healthy number.  I notice that a good portion of them are new construction which proves that builders are still able to compete with the current inventory of homes on the market.  This is in contrast to much of the country where prices have dropped so much that homes are selling for much less than the construction costs.

However $35 dollar oil prices do not look good.  A short term dip in oil prices will not have too much of an effect on the Alaska economy, but if the prices stay low for a year or so, we will see major problems.

I thought this chart was encouraging.  It looks like after March of 2009 the oil companies will be paying us to take their gas.

Written by Marty Van Diest 2 Comments »

Monday Market Memo, Nov 25-Dec 1, 2008 December 3rd, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate Monday Memo for Nov 25–Dec 1, 2008.  These statistics are for the whole Mat-Su Borough and include all single-family residential sales.  This means that vacant lots, multi-family, and commercial sales are not included.

This is the first week in the last two years that closed sales have been in the single digits.  This was thanksgiving week so you would expect less activity, especially since the title companies were closed for two days.

Last year thanksgiving week had 23 closed sales so that shows a significant slowdown.

We have more than 100 fewer homes on the market this year than we did at the same time last year.  That helps keep things at an equilibrium. 

The 22 new listings this week include quite a few that really need to sell.  About 4 of them are foreclosures and there are other good deals. 

This week, Jay and I pended two homes for clients at what I consider to be exceptionally good prices.  Both buyers were very pleased with the price they were able to negotiate.  If you would like some help looking for good homes…just give a call to 907 373–0999.  We would be happy to help you.

This is the time of year that sellers are willing to look at offers.  I had a realtor tell me about a house yesterday that needs to sell…she said, “bring an offer”, the seller will consider any offer that will allow him to move before Christmas.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.