A message from my realtor

[Johnny_L.A]

My realtor sends periodic market updates to his clients. (I have a house, and I don’t want to sell it. Am I still a client?)

For the month of Sept in Bellingham - 63 homes sold in 2010 compared to 81 in Sept 2011 - a 28.6% increase in home sales (units sold).

At the same time inventory dropped from 597 homes on the market in Sept 2010 to 517 homes on the market in Sept 2011 - a 13.4% drop in inventory.

For the month of Oct in Bellingham - 66 homes sold in 2010 compared to 78 in Oct of 2011 - an increase of activity of 18.2%.

While inventory dropped from 544 homes on the market in Oct 2010 to 472 homes on the market in Oct 2011 - a 13.2% drop in inventory.

With more homes selling and fewer homes on the market, the natural laws of supply and demand seem to indicate that prices should soon begin to rise.

Pretty mundane and pointless, but I thought I’d share a positive sign.

[not_what_you_d_expect]

That is good news. We could sure use some.

We’ve been talking to local business owners around our parts and they have indicated they are having the best profits since 2008. These are small food industry places.

Fingers crossed.

[picunurse]

Our house in Seattle is still worth nearly twice what we paid in 1998. Of course, during the boom, it was worth 4 times what we paid.

I don’t think the stats you were given are true down here. The housing market is flooded here. On our street alone 10 or more houses have been on the market for anywhere from 1-6 months. That doesn’t include the glut of condos going up on lots that once had a single family homes.

I really can’t imagine that Seattle is growing as fast as housing in entering the market.

I did hear on the news a few weeks ago that the Bellingham area is growing faster than other places in the state.

[Johnny_L.A]

@picunurse

I did hear on the news a few weeks ago that the Bellingham area is growing faster than other places in the state.

That sounds vaguely familiar.

Bellingham has a lot to offer. It’s a small town, with only about 81,000 people. Although this means that the amenities can be somewhat lacking compared to a big city, it also means that in many ways it’s more pleasant. Traffic is good, it’s fairly quiet, the small downtown scene is cool. Canada is close. (It’s 20 miles closer for me. ) It’s a very attractive place, with Mt. Baker rising to the east and beautiful forests and sea-sides. Housing is relatively inexpensive. There’s decent service from the local airport.

I wouldn’t mind living in Seattle, but I like Whatcom County too.

[Eve]

If you e her back, be sure to initial-cap “Realtor.” They are *touchy *about that.

[astro]

I am commercial RE agent. I am not a residential agent, but with respect to quoting local housing stats while there is a significant general housing downtown across wide sections of the US, the actual results in individual markets are very localized.

There are sections of the US where the housing market has almost recovered and others where there will be carnage for years to come.

Some economists attribute a portion of these differences to the legal and procedural requirements for foreclosure. In areas where the process is more drawn out there is (according to the argument) a larger backlog of of unabsorbed housing stock which depresses the local market . In areas where the process is more streamlined and most of the foreclosed properties are dealt with efficiently recovery is happening more quickly.