2011 Mat-Su Real Estate Wrap Up
Well, tomorrow is Dec 31. That’s close enough to the end of the year to do a little wrap up. I thought I would compare this year to all the years previous back to 2005. The years of 2005 and 2006 are generally considered to be the top of the market in the Palmer and Wasilla areas.
The numbers in the chart are for the whole Mat-Su Valley which includes everything from Trapper Creek to Eureka. But the vast majority of the real estate action is in the core area of Palmer and Wasilla.
Probably the most interesting thing to notice is how steady the market has been for the last 4 years. The amount of total sales and the median price is pretty even over that time. There was a significant drop in sales in 2007 and 2008 but I would say there has been no meaningful change since then.
I had people raise the possibility that perhaps you can get more for their money now. In other words, maybe the price hasn’t dropped, but you get a bigger bank for the buck. That is why I included that median price per square foot. This gives you an indication of how much house you can get for the money. You can see that there was a big jump in price per square foot from 2005 to 2006 and then a drop between 2007 and 2008 but it’s been pretty steady ever since.
Of course, the big question always is:
What’s gonna happen next year?
And the answer is…I have no idea.
But take a look at the chart below and draw your own conclusions.
| Year | Total Sales |
Median Price | Median Price Per Sq Ft |
| 2005 | 1,676 | $192,440 | $114 |
| 2006 | 1,638 | $206,000 | $126 |
| 2007 | 1,496 | $209,000 | $127 |
| 2008 | 1,202 | $205,728 | $121 |
| 2009 | 1,156 | $203,000 | $123 |
| 2010 | 1,168 | $206,000 | $120 |
| 2011 | 1,230 | $205,950 | $120 |
More important info from Valley Market Real Estate:
Foreclosures are 14% of our market.
