Wasilla Real Estate News Market Statistics for this week.  These statistics are for residential single family home sales in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  The vast majority of the activity is in the Wasilla and Palmer area but these numbers also include houses and cabins from Talkeetna to Sutton.

I have included the same statistics for this week in 2007.  You will notice that the DOM, (days on the market), are higher and the prices are lower for 2008.  This does show that although our market is still active, it is taking longer to sell a home on average and that selling prices need to be very competitive.

This week we broke a record that was only two weeks old for the fewest closings in a week.  We only had 12 compared to 13 a couple weeks ago.  It was a short week with President’s Day.  Most of the title companies were closed that day and we were coming off of some of the coldest weeks of the month when the contracts would have been signed.  Pendings are normal this week so it will take more time to see if it indicates a trend.

I compared the last six months to the same six months one year ago. 

• Sep 1 2007– Feb 25, 2008.  Total Sales 583, Median Price $202,371
•  
• Sep 1 2006–Feb 25, 2007.  Total Sales 710, Median Price $210,000

So we can say that fewer homes are selling for a little less money.  It appears that the Mat-Su Valley is dealing with the credit crunch by a slow down in sales and no appreciation. 

When we look at individual homes we still are finding that most houses purchased two to three years ago, sell for more today than than they did then.  I have found a couple sales where the price went down, but those are definitely in the minority. 

However, this market changes every month.  As the numbers above indicate, the pressure seems to be pushing down, not up. 

Here is what I found when I took a look at that trend for the last year.

The last 12 month sales sorted by price.

• $500,000 +   22 sales
• $400–500     41 sales
• $300–400    140 sales
• $200–300    571 sales
• $100–200    600 sales
• $100 –           80 sales

Here are the previous 12 months.

• $500,000 +   18 sales
• $400–500     37 sales
• $300–400    154 sales
• $200–300   685 sales
• $100–200   675 sales
• $100 –        104 sales

I think those are enough numbers right now…As Grace always tells me when I run a list of figures by her…”the men, they love the numbers”.

Give me a call if you would like more info on the market or any particular house.  Just call my cell 232–7900, dial the 907 area code if long distance.

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The Real Estate Market Statistics for Wasilla, Palmer and the Mat-Su Borough.  This is posted every Monday, so check back to see what is happening in the Real Estate Market.  Or you can click on the Monday Market link to the right to scroll through the historical posts.

It appears after a slow week last week that the market has begun it’s spring revival.  There are more closings and pendings this week and the total inventory actually went down.  We expect a rising inventory in the spring so it’s good to see it decrease once in a while.

The amount of calls in the last week definitely was up.  I believe that we are going in to the busy spring season now.  It will increase in the next month or so, right on through May.

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Wasilla Real Estate market statistics for Wasilla, Palmer and the whole Mat-Su Borough.  These are the numbers for the week of Feb 4–11.

The new listings more than 3 times the amount of pending and sold listing for this week.  I expect to see many new listings come on the market, but at this rate unless the pendings and solds catch up we will be well into buyers market territory in a month or less. 

The total inventory increased by 28 homes this week.  Buyers are definitely out there shopping.  I received a lot of calls on listings this week so I expect to see the pendings pick up in a week or two.

I think 13 closed listings is the lowest weekly count since I started this weekly update in January 2007.  It also appears that the days on the market are increasing as well.

All the above basically says that sellers need to be priced competitively if they want to sell their home during this spring/summer market cycle.  Price it right and it will sell.  Strive for top dollar and it will sit, it’s as simple as that.

With interest rates at historic lows, it is also a good time for buyers to shop.  There is plenty of inventory so should be easy for a buyer to find the house that meets their needs. 

If you would like more info on selling or buying in the Mat-Su Borough, give me a call.  232–7900.

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Wasilla Real Estate Statistics, Palmer Real Estate Statistics, and Mat-Su Real Estate Statistics.  These are the statistics for the whole Mat-Su Borough.  The vast majority of real estate sales occur in the Wasilla, Palmer and Big Lake areas so these make up most of the numbers.

An interesting change that I did not expect is that the total inventory actually fell for the week.  In addition, there are fewer houses on the market right now than there were last year at this time. 

The average prices are higher across the board and the amount of houses selling per week is similar.  The only thing that looks less positive is that the Days on Market, (DOM), is up significantly.  In fact, DOM is almost 40% longer than it was last year at this time.

The chart below from Alaska MLS gives a good two year overview. It shows that our market is not making any major changes.  The same seasonal fluctuations are occurring that are normal for our Alaska Market. Click on the chart to enlarge.

You will notice that in December there were actually more sales than there were new listings.  The bottom line is that it appears Alaska is not experiencing the real estate crashes that are seen in other parts of the country.  As long as the oil price stays high, I expect that this will continue. 

If you would like more detailed information about particular areas of the Mat-Su Borough, or certain types of homes, give me a call.  My cell phone is 907 232–7900

AlaskaMLS disclaimer…“This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by, and to, the subscribers of Alaska Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (AK MLS, Inc.). AK MLS, Inc. does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. is for its own use and may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. “

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Real Estate Statistics for Wasilla, Palmer, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  These are residential single family home statistics are for the week of Jan 21–28, 2008.  These do include all single family homes including remote cabins in the borough. 

The vast majority of all sales are in the core area of Wasilla, Palmer.

The total active listings only increased by one this week.  I still expect it to increase substantially but the inventory has not risen much at all in January.  It will increase as spring rolls along and people plan to sell their homes to move in early summer.

We had exactly the same amount of new listings as we had pending so stayed pretty much even for the week.  This is the second week in a row of low closings.  This will increase as well as we go into spring.

The average time on the market has risen slowly over the last few months.  I actually expect that to drop this spring, at least for closed sales.  That is because there will be new listings hit the market that will be priced to really sell.  I have had several people tell me that they tried to sell their homes last year but weren’t able to.  They are going to do whatever it takes to get them sold this year.

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For the week of January 14–21, 2008 here are the real estate statistics for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  This includes Wasilla, Palmer and surrounding areas.

These statistics are residential house sales, everything from cabins to mansions.

Well…the pending and closed actions sure took a dive this week.  You couldn’t tell it by our own business…we have still been real busy.  Still, it’s hard to ignore the numbers.  I think it is just a by-product of two weeks in a row of 4 day weeks. 

The total active listings increased by only 12 this week even though pending sales were down.  I expect a jump in all the numbers next week.

I talked to Tim Vereide of Prudential Vista Real Estate in Wasilla today.  He is another number cruncher it seems, as well as an all around nice guy and great Realtor.  He has been keeping track of monthly stats for quite some time.  Tim has been watching the core area, Palmer, Wasilla, Houston and Knik Road out to Settlers Bay. 

Here is a real interesting fact from Tim…573 active listings in Jan 2007 compared to 554 this year.  Also there were 127 pendings at this time last year compared to 131 this year.  Those are actually pretty encouraging numbers given that it seems that the sky is falling everywhere else. 

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For the week of January 7–14, 2008 here are the real estate statistics for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  This includes Wasilla, Palmer and surrounding areas.

These statistics are residential house sales, everything from cabins to mansions.

The new listings took a big jump this week. If you read the previous Monday Market Memos you would have expected that.  Are total inventory increased by about 25 listings this week.  The inventory will likely continue to grow over the next few months.

Pendings and sales came up slightly, I expect that they will hold pretty steady with slight increases over the next few months.  In the summer we usually see these running at about 30–40 per week, so this isn’t bad for mid-winter.

An interesting observation is that the average price for the total inventory has dropped about $20,000 over the last year while the average sales price has remained pretty steady.  Perhaps that means that sellers are starting to list their homes at more realistic asking prices.

We have been pretty busy this past week, writing offers on 3 properties and listing another 3.  This is good action for this time of year.  If you would like us to help you find a property or sell the one you have, give a call on the cell.  907 232–7900.

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These are the real estate stats for the first week of 2008.  New listings are starting to hit the market.  More than twice as many new listings came on the market compared to the previous week. 

But we had enough properties leave the market so that the total active listings actually dropped for about the 5th week in a row.  We have about 7 months worth of inventory at this week’s level of absorption.  That is still a buyer’s market.

 There are a lot of new listings in the works right now.  I’m sure we will see quite a few more choice properties hit the market in the next couple months. 

Interest rates are very low right now.  If you haven’t been paying attention you might be surprised to find that 30 year fixed mortgages can be locked in at 5.6% and it might go lower.

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This are the statistics for the last week of 2007.  All the numbers are down a little because of the two holidays of Christmas and New Years. 

Notice that the total active listings dropped by almost 100 since last week.  That is because of the fact that many listings expire Dec 31.  Not to worry, we will have a huge influx of listings this month and next to make up for it.

I am working on another post with my predictions for 2008.  It should be done by tonight…check back.

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Wasilla Real Estate statistics continue to show more of the same thing we have seen for the last 6 weeks or so.  These statistics are for residential single family homes for the whole Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

That is a steady flow of pending sales and closed sales with an inventory that continues to diminish.  At this rate it is possible that the inventory will drop below 700 by next week.  But it won’t go much below that because there is already a backlog of houses ready to hit the market after the first of the year. 

At this point prices seem to be holding steady.  There are more foreclosed homes on the market which is an opportunity for people looking for fixers.  They are not affecting the existing home market because most of them are in poor condition. 

Homes have to be priced competitively to sell.  Many, perhaps most of the homes that are over $300,000 are still priced a little too high.  If sellers want them to move they are going to need to become realistic.  Buyers generally look at a lot of homes before they make their decision.  It becomes fairly easy to pick out the overpriced homes after you have been in 40 homes.

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