Whatcom County Home Prices Still Rising

If you are a local Whatcom county resident, you might find it hard to believe that area home prices in the first quarter of 2007 are just over 8% higher than the same quarter of 2006. The national rise was just over 4%. What does this mean? Whatcom county's economic vitality is strong. Bellingham ranks 49 out of 265 metropolitan areas for price appreciation.

Why all the price reduced signs then? Simply, a home seller cannot sell their home for a 10-15% annual appreciation. The priced reduced signs are actually the homeowners that have to sell, and they are bringing their home prices down to the 8% mentioned above. The rest of the sellers just watch their homes sit on the market, until they finally get sick of keeping their home nice. Then they blame their real estate agent for not selling their over priced home. The home listing either expired, or the sellers cancels the listing.

As a Realtor, it is my job to distinguish between the homeowners who have to sell and those that do not. If you do not have to sell, you are going to be the one who wants to over price your home. You want me to gamble with my marketing dollars to see if you will get lucky and get your price. I will not do that. I am in the business to close 90-95% of the listings I take. This requires us to work as a team; for me to do a good job marketing and for you to listen to my price recommendations. I am not under pricing your home or just guessing. I am using comprehensive data on recent sold, expireds, cancelleds, and pendings, as well as actives. I then factor in the cumulative days on market. Basically, I am looking at the big picture, rather than focusing on what you "need" or "want" to get from the sale of your home.

While Home Sales Drop, Prices Still Rise

Most would say that the home sales market is beginning to cool. That depends on where you live and how you define "cool". In the state of Washington, the median home price rose 7.4 percent, while the overall sales volume dropped 9.2 percent. That means demand for homes is still strong, and those that can afford a home are still buying; however, there are less people that can afford homes as reflected by the overall drop in volume of sales.

When compared to this same time in 2006, the median home price in the state of Washington is just over $300,000, and increase of nearly 7.5%. When compared with the national average of a decline of nearly 2%.

Washington state is a great place to live and the home prices are reflecting this idea. More and more people are moving here from other areas of the country where home prices are higher. These buyers can afford to pay and drive home prices up. Many of these buyers are retirees, semi-retirees, or baby boomers looking to re-invent there life.

Bellingham Wa is one of the most ideal location to live in Washington state because of its proximity to both the Seattle area, as well as Vancouver British Columbia in neighboring Canada. Bellingham also offers a small town atmosphere, with all the amenities for outdoor recreation and nearness to big cities.