Cashmere Real Estate Update

Cashmere real estate has picked up since I wrote about it in March for my last Cashmere real estate market update.

The number of houses sold in the first half of 2007 is up 35% from the same time last year. The sales volume is up 53%!! This year 5.5 million dollars worth of homes have been sold in Cashmere in the first 6 months.

The average sales price in Cashmere is now $292,000, up 12% from 2006. The median sales price is up 31% to $282,000!

Right now there are 29 homes for sale in Cashmere at an average price of $396,000.

There are 10 pending sales with an average listing price of $325,000. This will continue to raise both the median and average sales prices for the year.

What is driving Cashmere real estate? I think Cashmere is a cute town, centrally located between Wenatchee and Leavenworth. For those commuting to either city, it is about a 15-20 minute drive. There are options for rural living or small town living in cute Craftsman era homes. Cashmere's school district is also in high demand with lots of praise coming from parents and students.

Click here to Search for Cashmere Homes for Sale

Insurance for Vacant Land?

The Importance of Insuring Vacant Land

By Eric Kossian of Leavenworth Insurance

While vacant land doesn’t have any structures that could burn down, the landowner is still subject to liability lawsuits, so it is advisable to have liability insurance coverage.

To obtain vacant land liability coverage inexpensively the first choice is simply having your agent extend liability from an existing homeowners policy and/or excess liability (umbrella) policy. This costs almost nothing.

But what if you don’t currently own a home? There’s a policy you can get that will cover up to 500 acres of vacant land including up to 25 acres of lakes or ponds. There must be no structures or commercial use and no plans for development or construction during the term. (Once you are ready to build your dream home, you would cancel this and get a Course of Construction Policy which would also cover liability.)

Liability coverage on a Vacant Land Policy has no deductible and uses the expanded definition of Bodily Injury to include Mental Anguish and Emotional Distress. Premiums are low.

Eric Kossian was an Underwriting Specialist with State Farm. He owns Leavenworth Insurance, LLC. an agency providing affluent homeowners throughout Washington State with all their insurance needs. Eric can be reached at (877) 548-5488 or

leavenworthinsurance@gmail.com

Fish Lake Real Estate

In an earlier post on Active Rain, I introduced you to Fish Lake just outside of Plain and Leavenworth, WA. This post is specifically about the real estate opportunities that can be found on Fish Lake.

Fish Lake is a smaller and more intimate lake than Lake Wenatchee. It is also mostly bordered by U.S. Forest Service land. The amount of private waterfront is very limited and even homes near the lake are hard to come by.

This is the last waterfront home sold on Fish Lake.

I sold it in May of 2005 for $470,000. In general, real estate in the Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee area has been appreciating at 15 to 20% a year. Considering it has been two years since a home on Fish Lake has been available, I think the appreciation here has probably been higher. I usually tell buyers looking for a home on Lake Wenatchee to plan on spending at least $1 million. I don't Fish Lake has quite reached that mark, but it isn't far off.

These two houses sold in the past year.

Neither of these homes were located on the lake, but both were within walking distance. The home on top sold in May of 2006 for $350,000. The other home sold in March of 2007 for $375,000.

If you are looking for a home on or near Fish Lake I have two obvious pieces of advice. Be patient and be prepared to pay a premium for waterfront.

If you have a home or lot to sell on Fish Lake or even nearby, you are sitting on some very valuable real estate. Please don't hesitate to contact me for current market analysis.

Why aren't homes in Cashmere Selling? (It's the price...)

Allyson got this bit of fan mail today... “So what is up with the blog? I notice that the frequency of postings has decreased--I rely on it to keep up to date on the greater Leavenworth real estate market--I am starting to get the shakes--when will we get a new post?” This is for you Holly.... I have been a little surprised that there hasn't been much movement in the usually crazy Cashmere housing market. Currently, there are 10 homes on the market in Cashmere under $300,000. This is about a 3.5 month supply. Clearly a strong seller's market by most approximations. Yet, there is only 1 pending sale! I decided to dig deeper. In the last 6 months, 17 homes sold in this price range. The average home was 1660 square feet and sold for $190,000. The current crop of homes average just about 1600 square feet, but are on the market for $240,000. Now it's POSSSIBLE that the homes on the market today are much nicer, newer, etc homes, but.... not very LIKELY! In the last 6 months homes in this price range sold in average of 72 days – just over 2 months. The current crop is averaging 61 days. Cashmere homeowners take note – this is a healthy market, but your GREED is getting in the way of your agent selling your house. Real estate agents in Cashmere – you need to have “the talk” with your sellers.