Wasilla Real Estate News statistics for Nov 18–24, 2008.  These are the statistics for residential sales in the whole Mat-Su Borough.  This includes Palmer, Wasilla, Sutton, Houston, Willow, Talkeetna and more.

We are in winter mode in real estate.  The new listings are falling and the total inventory is also falling.  Houses are still selling however.  There were 29 new pending sales last week which is a healthy number for this time of year.

Notice the difference in the average and median price for this weeks pendings. That is because there was one very expensive lake front home that pended this week.  People are still buying those nice homes.

Speaking of nice homes…we just listed this beautiful home on 5 acres on Lazy Mountain.  This is a rare find.   . 

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Wasilla Real Estate News statistics for the week of November 10–17, 2008

These statistics include all residential sales on the Alaska MLS system for the Mat-Su Borough.  They do not include vacant land sales or commercial and multi-family sales.

I included the statistics for the same week in 2007, the week before Thanksgiving.  You will notice that I include more details in the report now than I did then   I have added them as a response to my readers.  If you would like different details, let me know and I will add them if possible.

This week is on the left and 2007 is on the right.

Notice that the statistics are very similar except for total inventory. The inventory is down by about 10% compared to last year. I would expect the inventory to continue to drop as we go through the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. The inventory is lower because people generally don’t want to make a move from their house during the holiday season. After the first of the year, people will begin to put their homes back on the market and it will slowly grow.

The other noticeable difference is Days on Market.  Marketing time is up by a significant amount.  It takes much longer this year to sell a home than it did last year.  Sellers should be aware of this and prepare for it.  Still, the homes that are competitively priced tend to sell quickly.  Here is a quote from last years post…”although the new listings usually show a significant decline during that time of the year, buyers do not stop looking.  If a good house hits the market buyers will be all over it.  This is actually a good time to put a well priced, clean home on the market.  You will have less competition…”

If you would like some help to determine a competitive price for your property, give me a call at 373–0999 or email marty@valleymarket.com

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We just had a presidential election in which about 60% of the registered voters in Alaska participated.  Some people think that is a pretty good turnout, I think it’s pathetic.  BUT, what people don’t think about is that local government actually has more effect on your everyday life.

It seems that the more local the government becomes, the less participation we see.  In the Mat-Su Borough we generally have these levels of government:  state, borough, city, community council.  There are many opportunities to become involved at each level.  Of those four, the community councils are the most local.

The amazing thing is that although everyone can be involved in their community council, the only people that show up are the activists that want to change the status quo.  All the people that are happy with the way things are remain at home and complain when their world changes around them.

For example, in the Chickaloon Community Council area the minimum lot size is five acres.  This was passed by the community council and now has the effect of law. If you had purchased 5 acres with the intent to subdivide a portion off for a family member you are now out of luck. 

I believe that community councils are an excellent way to get residents involved in local government, but it needs community participation to function well.  I attended the Lazy Mountain Community Council tonight.  It was held at the Lazy Mountain Bible Church on Clark-Wolverine Road.  At this meeting there was a sparse turnout, but Chairman Jim Sykes reported much better participation earlier in the year.

The Lazy Mountain Community Council has their own website here.  On it they show the agenda and report on each meeting. This is an excellent way to keep the community informed.  Here is a copy of their comprehensive: Lazy Mountain Comprehensive Plan,  On their website I noticed a plan for the Wolverine Lake Trail Access.  This trail may go right next to a fantastic lakefront property I am marketing.  

Not only is it normal to have low community participation in the community councils, often the council will restrict who can vote.  For example, I received a report today that the Meadow Lakes Community Council restricts voting members to residents of the area.  So you could own a rental property in the area but not be allowed to vote.  However, your renters will be able to vote to determine what you can do with the property they rent from you.  Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.  Here is the Meadow Lakes Comprehensive Plan.  You will notice that it is over 300 pages, while the Lazy Mountain plan is 72 pages.  If you live there, you might want to read it carefully.

I searched the web for other community council websites but only found a defunct site for the Butte Community Council. .  If you want to know what is going on in your area you will need to dig.  You can start with the Borough’s list of community councils here.

The final step for the community councils is some sort of zoning.  Meadow Lakes Community Council is in the middle of that right now.  The borough will eventually have zoning over all of it’s millions of acres of land.   The question is, will you have a say in the rule changes, or will you let someone else make the rules for you?

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Here are the real estate statistics for the week.  These include Wasilla, Palmer and the rest of the Mat-Su Borough.  These are statistics for residential single family homes and do not include statistics for commercial property, multi-family units, or vacant land.

The Mat-Su Borough real estate market is primarily a place for single family homes so these statistics are the best indicator of our market.

All the numbers are down this week except for closed sales.  Twenty five closed sales for the week is still are relatively healthy number.  We went below 800 in total inventory for the first time since April, 28.  We will likely see a similar trajectory this year.

Last year at this time we had 887 homes on the market.  So we are going into winter with a smaller inventory than we had last year.  New listings will likely drop significantly from now until the second week in January 2009.    That means that any new listing to hit the market will receive a significant amount of attention even though there are fewer buyers.

This past week we wrote an offer for a young couple on a brand new 3 bedroom, two bath home with a two car garage on one acre for $174,000.  If you would like help in getting into a new home, give a call at 907 373–0999.

Give me a call if you would like

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Here are the statistics for this past week for all residential property in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  This includes Wasilla, Palmer and all the surrounding areas.

The closings came up last week after two down weeks of only 15 closings each.  The end of a month is usually a higher closing period than mid-month.

Pendings are down drastically this past week however.  My reasoning is that buyers are hesitant to commit just before this major presidential election.  Next week, when the sun comes up like it normally does, some buyers will decide to move forward no matter who is the President of the United States.

The total inventory has dropped again and may go below 800 by next week. 

If you would like to get my list of motivated sellers, just drop me a line at marty@valleymarket.com or call 907 232–7900

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