In January of 2008 I was able to report that average home prices had climbed 18% despite a drop in the number of homes selling.
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.)
Well, I guess I was right to couch our market in relation to the stock market. If I had seen that coming, I would have pulled out some investments and stuck the cash under my mattress.
How did I do in relation to volume, market times and prices?
Number of Homes Sold in Leavenworth
Only 98 single family homes sold in Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee in 2008. This is down 20% from 2007. (124 homes)
Leavenworth Home Prices
The average home price in the Leavenworth area dropped in 2008 from $415,000 to $389,000 or 6%. However, the median home price in Leavenworth went up 2% from $342,000 to $350,000.
Does that mean home prices went up or home prices went down? I think it means that Leavenworth home prices stayed stable in 2008 which is a great consolation considering the alternatives.
(Delving into the numbers, it looks to me like the decrease in average home prices is mostly a reflection of lagging luxury home sales in Leavenworth. Fewer homes sold above $500,000 in 2008 and they sold for less money. There were also three properties that sold for above $1 million in 2007 that really weren't residential properties but rather commericial buildings or development opportunities.)
How long does it take to sell a home in Leavenworth?
In 2007 the average home took 139 days to sell. In 2008 that number bumped up to 145. I guess I was right on that one.
How about 2009? What are your predictions for the Leavenworth real estate market?
4 comments:
Interesting stuff. Seems like Leavenworth faired better then many places. Down only 6% is actually not bad. I think 2009 will be interesting. I feel buyers getting anxious and coming off the sideline. We could see a bump in activity early, but a sustained recovery is going to depend on the effects of a stimulus package and refinancing muting the further effects of defaults in the Alt A and Arm market. We will see.
Rob- Thanks for visiting. I think the Leavenworth market is about confidence. Confidence in Leavenworth and confidence in the economy in general. If folks are confident in the future, they will continue to buy vacation homes, if they are worried, they will hold off.
Should be a tough start to the year in my opinion, with it picking up closer to the end of the year.
Gerard Hagan - Homes For Sale Edmonton
The year 2008 is the worst year in the history of stock market and real estate transactions. The investors in these fields lost huge wealth consequent upon drop in home sells and stock prices in Leaven worth. But we can hope for gradual improvement in this time starting from April 2009 due to government speeding in the field of infrastructure.
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