Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Wasilla Real Estate News Market Memo March 22nd, 2010

Categories: For Buyers

These are the real estate statistics for March 16-22, 2010 for Wasilla, Palmer, and the rest of the Mat-Su Borough.

The market continues to be active. There were a healthy amount of pendings last week which bodes well for the future. There were only 12 closings which is the same as the week before. These closings are based on contracts that went into pending status 30-45 days previously. We were involved in 3 of the 12 closings which was nice…but made last week very busy because we were also doing the showcase of homes. We should have 2 closings next week as well so it will be another busy week.

But 12 closings…split among 200+ Realtors……………! No worries, spring is coming.

		Average Price	Median Price	DOM
New	36	$310,761	$262,450	.
Total Active	750	$279,412	$240,000	146
Pending	28	$201,726	$190,600	110
Closed	12	$208,083	$194,050	102

Tim Vereide of Prudential Vista in Wasilla sent me a copy of his stats as well. You can find them here. Tim has been comparing active listings to pendings on a month by month basis for long enough to make it a very good gauge of the market. You will notice that we still appear fairly healthy relative to the past few years. The total active numbers that Tim uses are different than mine because his stats focus on the core area of Wasilla and Palmer including Houston while mine include Willow, Talkeetna, and the rest of the Mat-Su Borough.

The Spring Parade of Homes appeared to be well attended. We had a steady stream of people all weekend through this home by Pacific North Construction. This home is all finished and is staged by Susan Gillespie. It’s absolutely exquisite. If you know of anyone in the market for a 4 bedroom home for less than $300K you need to make sure they see this home.

Get on the Deals Of The Week List….Foreclosure List….or Motivated Sellers list.

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.

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Mystrom Discusses Rail Extension At Palmer Chamber March 17th, 2010

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

Former Anchorage Mayor Rick Mystrom spoke at the Greater Palmer Chamber Of Commerce today about building a railroad spur from the main line of the Alaska Railroad to Port Mackenzie. He believes that with signs of a slowing Alaskan economy we should be sinking some money into infrastructure.

This extension of the railroad would cost about $200 million dollars. This would be funded by the state of Alaska, since it owns the railroad. Mystrom is asking local businesses to contact their legislators about providing this infrastructure.

It would provide a more economical means to ship minerals from the interior. Mystrom said it would reduce the cost of shipping coal by $3 a ton. That for a product that retails for only $20 a ton, so its a significant savings. It would also allow the economical development of a large limestone deposit by Livengood which has enough limestone for 15% of the US cement needs.

I note that the borough had a press release yesterday about the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the rail extension.

Mystrom contends that Port Mackenzie does not compete with Anchorage because it can handle much larger ships that would ship interior resources to the market in a more economical fashion. The port of Anchorage is mainly centered on container ships while the Port Mac will specialize in more bulky products like coal, limestone, or wood chips.

Seward, another deep water port on the rail system, was also mentioned in Mystrom’s presentation. Of course it is a couple hundred miles further from the interior and is accessed through some steep mountain passes which are never good for heavily loaded trains.

After sitting through the session I couldn’t help but think that there is another project that we all need to get behind first…the gas line. It appears that the All-Alaska line may be gaining momentum. If we had the All-Alaska line to Valdez with a spur to Kenai, and LNG up and down the Yukon by barge to the villages we would be in better shape to fund something like this railroad extension.

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Wasilla Real Estate Market Memo March 16th, 2010

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Real Estate Statistics for the week of March 9-15, 2010. These are the statistics for the whole Mat-Su Borough.

The market appears to be about where I would expect it to be, not real strong, but not real weak either. Compare it to last years memo from the same week here. You will notice that we have a lower inventory by just a little and we have almost the same median asking price. We are actually looking better on the total pending and closed for the week.

		Average Price	Median Price	DOM
New	41	$297,708	$267,000	.
Total Active	744	$275,745	$239,650	145
Pending	24	$216,875	$217,450	65
Closed	12	$299,325	$186,950	111

But, that’s a little misleading because its onlly looking at the active market. If you look at the closed market you see that we are a little weaker this year than last.

2009 Closed sales year-to-date show 159 sales at a median price of $201,900.
2010 Closed sales year-to-date show 144 sales at a median price of $195,000.

So, even with the stimulus, things are a little weaker. It’s hard to tell how much effect the tax rebate stimulus package has had, but we will likely know by May. The deadline for taking advantage of the stimulus is April 30. You need to be in contract by that date, and you need to close by June 30. We will see what happens when that day passes.

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.

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6420 Settlers Bay Drive, Wasilla Alaska SOLD March 14th, 2010

Categories: Sold Listings

SOLD LISTING!

This house was built in 2003 by Hart Land Homes. It has been well maintained since then. It has 1010 square feet with three bedrooms, 2 baths and a 2 car garage. The home boasts an open concept kitchen, dining and living room.The driveway and parking is paved and there is a nice lawn both in front and in back.

This house is priced right at $161,500.

If you are looking for a nice 3 bedroom home at a good price, this one cannot be beat! Click on the contact above to set up a showing for this house.

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Deals Of The Week, March 13, 2010 March 14th, 2010

Categories: For Buyers

I just sent out the deals of the week. If you would like to be on the deals of the week list, just click on the contract link above and ask for deals of the week. I’ll send this list to you and any subsequent list.

I go through the listings and choose what appear to me to be good deals.

This week lists includes:

6 0F 103 new listings

7 OF 70 price reductions

All 25 foreclosures

all 10 relos

All five “motivated sellers”

All 29 short sales:

If you would like to be removed from the deals of the week, please let me know. If you know anyone who would like to be added just ask them to send their email to me.

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