I added a Median Price Column for the real statisticians out there.  This number is actually more useful than the average price because it is not easily skewed by one extremely high end or low end sale.

The median price is the middle price of a group of sales.  If you were to line up a bunch of numbers in numerical order…it would be the number in the center.

The market continues to be comparatively healthy.  The total inventory dropped a little since last week while the pendings and closed numbers are higher than average.  

Sixty new listings is still a high number of listings but they appear to have been absorbed this week. At the end of any month, there are a lot of listings that expire, that is why  the total inventory dropped even though there were more new listings than pendings.

To the right is the Alaska MLS Chart for the last two years through August.  Click on it to expand.  I haven’t run it in awhile because the data is about 30 days behind, but it is interesting to note the long term movement in sold listings.  That is the blue line.  You can see that there has not been a drastic shift in our market.  It is humming along at about the same level but a little slower than a couple years ago.

It remains to be seen if Sarah Palin’s candidacy for vice president will have any effect on our real estate market.  I really don’t think it will, but it will probably help the hotels and b&bs with the out of town reporters.

I thought it was interesting today to receive four calls in a row asking about land on Lazy Mountain.  Jay lives there and I have scoured that area for years and know it well.  Perhaps it is going to be the valley’s version of the hillside.

If you would like some help with real estate give me a call at 907 232–7900 or email marty@valleymarket.com

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We have all heard about the energy assistance program where a one time check of $1,200 will be issued to all alaskans.  You should have that cash in hand soon if you qualify for a Permanent Fund Dividend.

But in addition to cash to pay heating bills, Governor Palin and the Alaska State Legislature approved three more programs to help alaskans use less energy.

These are the Weatherization Program, the Home Energy Rebate Program, and a Second Mortgage Program for Energy Conservation.

The weatherization program provides free energy saving renovations on homes for home owners and renters as well.  There are income limits on this program that are actually pretty generous. I think this is an amazing program that anyone who qualifies should use.  You need to be patient because there is a waiting list.  I believe it may be possible to receive up to $30,000 in renovations.  The decision of what and how to renovate is made by AHFC and not the homeowner or renter.

Then there is the rebate program.  There are actually two divisions of the rebate program.  One for current home owners and another for new home buyers.  There is no income limit for the rebate program.

• For new home owners, if you purchase a 5 star plus energy rated home, you receive a $7,500 rebate from AHFC.  Simple and to the point.  This is something to keep in mind while you are shopping for a new home.
• For existing home owners, you can also qualify for a rebate if you upgrade the energy rating of your home.  You need to document the current energy rating by having an energy rater test your home.  This costs $395 and will be refunded by AHFC if you follow through with the application.  The energy rater will give you options on how to upgrade and you decide how and what to do.  Then after you upgrade the energy rating and document it you can be eligible for up to a $10,500 rebate depending on the level of the energy upgrade.

The third program is the second mortgage for energy conservation.  If you would like to upgrade your home but don’t have the cash to spend up front you can borrow it from AHFC.  The rebate program for home owners requires that the upgrades be done before you receive the rebate so this creates a problem for cash short home owners.  That is where the second mortgage for energy conservation comes in.  You can borrow the money to make the upgrade and then pay the money back with the rebate after you receive it. 

To find out more about these programs, check out Alaska Housing website here.

If you have more questions about these programs or real estate in general feel free to call me at 907 232–7900 or email at marty@valleymarket.com

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All of a sudden, people all over the world are talking about Wasilla.  They are even pronouncing it correctly.  No more Waseea. 

Almost everyone I met today is excited about her candidacy.  Most of the people in this area voted for her as governor and still support her.  I think she still has an approval rating in the high 80s.

Our home phone started ringing early this morning.  Reporters were calling for my wife Grace who is a delegate to the Republican National Convention.  She is in New York state visiting relatives before heading for Minneapolis tomorrow for the convention. 

I’m not sure how this is going to change our little community.  Wasilla is already one of the fastest growing communities in Alaska.  I guess we will wait and see.

Until then…GO SARAH.

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There are currently 13 fourplexes for sale in the same Palmer/Wasilla area.  They are being offered at a median price of $325,000.  It’s easy to see that there is about 2 years worth of inventory on the market.  There is also a large gap between the expectations of the sellers and the buyers. Sellers are still expecting to get a price that is only possible in a hot market.

During the relatively hot market of 2003–2005 people were purchasing four plexes at prices higher than the rents justied.  They were counting on appreciation and tax benefits to make up for their loss on the rental income. 

Appreciation has stalled for the time being.  Fourplex buyers have also stalled.  They are still willing to buy but the deal needs to make sense, or is that “cents”.  It isn’t normal for an investor to purchase a property knowing that it will lose money for the forseeable future.  Unless the current rental income after all expenses currently shows a profit the buyers will stay on the sidelines.

At the same time there is some indication that rents may begin to rise.  I talked to someone who advertised a two bedroom apartment on craigslist just yesterday.  They received over 20 inquiries in one day. 

While real estate sales have declined, our population has not gone down.  The people have to live somewhere and many of them are renting.  Rental prices will likely increase as a response. 

It may be a good time to purchase a multi-family unit…just do it carefully and find one that makes “cents”.  If you would like any help looking give me a call.  907 232–7900.

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Below are the numbers for last week.  The week of August 11–18.  Notice the high number of new listings for the third week in a row.  I think that is the largest surge of the year so far.

Pendings, and Closings were healthy, in fact they were significantly higher than the average for the year..

This past week saw the numbers for everything except the total inventory drop.  The change for new listings, closings, and pendings was not significant.

But the total active listings is now at the highest level since I have been keeping these statistics and it appears to be still climbing.  The increasing inventory indicates a reduction in demand. 

Below are the statistics for the week of Aug 18–25, 2008.

In fact the inventory has increased by 12% since May of this year.  If the inventory continues to increase, it will push the Days On Market, (DOM), numbers out even further.  That will create pressure for people to lower their prices to get their homes sold.

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Fifty seven new houses hit the market this week.  Combine that with 72 coming on the market last week and you should have a hefty increase in inventory.  We did see a significant jump last week but the total inventory actually dropped by two houses this week.  Between the 31 pending sales and the other sellers who dropped out of the market for some other reason, it made up for the 57 new sellers.

Twenty eight closings is a little bit on the higher side of average for this summer but we certainly aren’t setting any records.  We should continue at about this pace for the next couple months before it begins to drop off for the winter. 

This week should see quite a few new construction pendings because of the parade of homes.  I am still surprised at how new construction homes continue to be competitive.  Many of the builders are moving up to five star plus houses.  Some are moving into the super-insulated homes that surpass five star plus ratings.  These homes save on energy costs every month for the home owner.

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From: Kevin Crozier
Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 2:20 PM
To: Kevin Crozier
Subject: Two weeks later 

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We certainly had a surge of new listings.  The total inventory increased and pending and closed sales held about steady.

It looks like a lot of people have decided to sell before winter.  That’s a little surprising to me, they should have put their houses on the market earlier. 

There have been some good deals again this week.  A log house on Cottonwood Creek sold for $185,000, several brand new houses sold for less than $175,000, and a couple of good lots sold for the mid-$30s price ranges.  Let me know if you want to be set up for auto-alerts if a property that meets your criteria hits the market.

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This is a VA foreclosure that for some reason was listed at a lower than expected price.  The listing price is not determined by the listing licensee, who was Elizabeth Macmullen, but by the asset manager for VA.

If you were on my motivated seller list you would have been notified of this fantastic deal.  …by the way…just drop a line if you want to be on it….

There was a lot of interest in this house as you might imagine.  In fact, by yesterday there were thirteen offers on the property and of course the seller accepted the highest bid. 

I’m not sure what the final price was but it was likely at least $20,000 higher than the asking price.

So there are a couple lessons to be learned here.

• First…If you want to sell your house right away just underprice the market by about $50K
• Second…There are a lot of ready and willing buyers out there right now, they are just waiting for a good house at a good price.

If you are looking for a good deal…I have at least two houses in mind right now that will likely sell before a week is up.  Give me a call on my cell 907 232–7900

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This was a pretty good week for new pending sales hitting 49 in total.  The overall inventory dropped and I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a trend as we move into late summer.  The 24 closed sales is about average for the year so far.

Of the 49 pendings, 14 of them are new construction and 5 were foreclosures.  This is an interesting mix that shows that our real estate market is certainly not dead.   Builders are still providing a good product for the money.  Buyers have a chance to look at the existing homes including the foreclosures and a healthy percentage of them are choosing to build a new home.

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