Lake Wenatchee Freezes!

According to www.LakeWenatcheeInfo.com Lake Wenatchee has frozen from shore to shore. I have been seeing the local rivers freeze up and was wondering about the big lake. It has been below zero in the mornings at my house for the past week, though it's 10 degrees warmer now.

I have two suggestions for my readers.

1. Please respect the fragility of the frozen lake. Temps change, some ice is thicker than others. Please be careful as a frozen lake can be a dangerous place.

2. Add www.Lakewenatcheeinfo.com to your feed reader. I am up at Lake Wenatchee all the time, but their blog is still a great source of news for me.

Lake Wenatchee - Fiber Optics Coming Soon

LakeWenatcheeinfo.com's George Wilson is reporting that fiber optics is coming soon to Lake Wenatchee thanks to the Chelan County PUD. Click here to learn about getting fiber at your house near the lake

Leavenworth Mortgage Update

This Leavenworth Mortgage Update is from Darel Ansley at People's Bank Hi everyone, The year has gotten off to a great start with mortgage and construction rates dropping as the fear of recession is pulling the stock market down. This of course makes Real Estate more affordable for the buyer. My prediction is that we will see some more bad economic news this month as more companies report their 4th quarter earnings, and this may pull mortgage rates down further. Here is what I have seen so far this year: people are coming in to finance land purchases, mostly for near term custom construction, others who own lots are coming in with their construction packages, ready to start building as soon as the ground is ready. Some people are refinancing to pull money out for remodeling. I am also seeing the regular flow starting up of people buying homes and refinancing (both land and houses). Things slowed in December, but these lower rates are spurring activity, so it looks like we'll have another great year. Don't forget, the NCHBA Home Show is coming FEB 8-10.

Leavenworth Real Estate Blog's 3 Year Bloggiversary

This real estate blog has successfully been published for 3 years now and I am pleased at how it has slowly grown and matured. The blogosphere was young in 2005 when I first signed up for a Blogger account and jumped in the deep end of real estate blogging.

In those 3 years, I have seen the growth of communities like Real Estate Community, Rain City Guide and LinkedIn . I have gotten great tips about building a community through blogging and educating the consumer about Leavenworth real estate. Sites like The Real Estate Tomato and RSS Pieces have helped transform this blog from a short advertisements to a source for in depth news and analysis.

Blogging has helped build my business through educating buyers and sellers. I have been interviewed by the New York Times, quoted by the Spokesman Review, and have been invited to blog for the Seattle PI's Real Estate Blog.

For years, I was the lone wolf in the Leavenworth blog scene, but recently a few folks have decided to dip their toes into the water.

Local sites include the new blog format at Lake Wenatchee Info and the Leavenworth blog of webmaster 11worth.com. In the real estate world, Windermere's Erin and Blaine Davidson have a Leavenworth blog and Carol Williams has added Leavenworth Condo Blog to her ever growing stable of blogs. Local Leavenworth real estate agent Sam Ernst and his broker have even added a real estate blog to his LeavenworthLeavenworth.com site.

I wish all these newcomers to the Leavenworth blog scene the best of luck. With 80% of blogs dying and giving up in the first year, I know it is a hard row to hoe especially when the benefits aren't always clear. I also challenge these new bloggers to minimize the fluff and the self-promotion. Focus on educating the consumer, and we all win.

Best wishes to all in 2008.

Leavenworth real estate and Lake Wenatchee still in demand

Leavenworth real estate and real estate in the Lake Wenatchee area remain in high demand despite recent news about slowdowns elsewhere.

Two areas that I have seen strong interest in over the past few years are waterfront homes and condos at Kahler Glen.

Waterfront homes range from cabins on Lake Wenatchee and Fish Lake to homes on the Wenatchee River or Icicle Creek. Currently there are only a handful of waterfront homes available in The Leavenworth area.

Kahler Glen condos have remained a hot commodity over the past two years. Certainly I remember 2004 when you couldn't give them away for $175,000, but 2008 is a different story. The last one sold in the spring of 2007 for $325,000 and I expect the next will be at least $350,000. Buyers always ask about other condominium options at Lake Wenatchee or Stevens Pass. The truth is that Kahler Glen has the only condos near Lake Wenatchee and no projects are scheduled in the area.

I am starting to add names to my list of buyers for both waterfront homes and Kahler Glen condos. Don't hesitate to ask to add your name as well, even if the inventory is limited right now. Conversely, homeowners please don't be shy about asking me to help you evaluate the market price of your home. I may even be able to sell your home without listing it on the MLS.

Leavenworth Earthquake?!

Earthquake in Leavenworth?

According to the USGS a magnitude 2.7 earthquake hit the Glacier Peak Wilderness area near Willow Creek. The quake occurred at approximately 2 pm Monday. It was followed by a micro-earthquake of a 2.0 magnitude. This remote area is approximately 33 NNW of Leavenworth.

To see how far from Leavenworth this earthquake was click on this map.

Wikipedia states than any earthquake with a magnitude of 2.0 or less is considered a micro - earthquake with approximately 8000 of such events occurring daily. Quakes ranging between 2.0 and 2.9 are considered minor and are generally recorded but not felt. 1000 such minor quakes occur daily.

Leavenworth Free Ski

This Sunday, Jan 6th the Leavenworth Winter Sports club is offering free cross-country skiing. As part of their Ski for Health Day, a free trail pass and free x-c rentals will be available from 12pm -3pm at the Icicle River Trail. Free mini-lessons will also be available. Registration will be at the trail head and requires a valid drivers license.

Leavenworth Real Estate - 2007 Year in Review

Real Estate in Leavenworth in 2007 - in a nutshell, prices up, volume down. (While these numbers might change with an additional last minute recording or two, I think the trends will remain the same.)

I have mentioned it before, but as expected 2007 was the Year of the New Condo for Leavenworth. Notable projects included the condos at Icicle Junction (Aspen Suites), the Boulders at Alpensee Strasse, the River Park Homes (affectionately known as the big yellow building), and Ski View on Titus. All these brand new condos certainly brought the price up for the "average" condo. The average condo price was up 45% to $294,000 from 2006s $201,000.

Perhaps more interesting, is what remains. Only 24 condos sold in Leavenworth in 2007, a mere 4 more than in 2006. 49 condominiums remain on the market with a few more projects slated for 2008. The average condo on the market today is $420,000. Does that market exist in Leavenworth? I'm not sure that it does. Only 3 condos sold above $350,000 last year and none above $400,000.

Single family home prices continued to climb in price, while the number of homes sold slowed. The average sales price was up 18% for homes in Leavenworth. The average price is now $415,000 up from $351,000 for 2006.

But price is not the only story. The number of homes sold is down 23% from the following year. The time on market is longer as well. The average days on market for a home in Leavenworth is now 139 days, up 30 days from 2006 when it only took 109 days. Sellers continue to get approximately 97% of their listing price as the final sales price.

Here's one positive and surprising trend. All the "Price Reduced" signs you see around the neighborhood - not indicative of the market. The average price reduction for single family homes in Leavenworth actually dropped in 2007. In 2006, the average home seller in Leavenworth dropped their price 7.06%, in 2007 that number dropped to 6.8%. This number coupled with raising prices tells me that Leavenworth home owners remain confident about the market, despite gloomy real estate news on a national level.

What will 2008 bring to the Leavenworth real estate market? I think much depends on external forces. What will the U.S. economy do? How will the stock market fare? How will the technology companies like Microsoft, Adobe, and Nintendo do?

I tend to think we will see a slight increase in prices with longer market times and about the same number of homes sold in 2008 as in 2007. (Check back in January 2009 to see if I'm right.)