Do You Still Think it's a Buyer's Market?

While home prices are still relatively low, the Spokane area market is considered a seller's market. And it's hot!

As of August 15, 2006, average days on market is 43 days. For homes priced in the $100,000-$199,999 range, days on market averages just 34.5 days!

Price per square foot has increased between $10 and $20 since this time last year. A sign of steady growth.

What are some advantages and disadvantages of living in a seller's market?

Listings are selling fairly quickly, which is positive for the seller, but sometimes forces buyers to make emotionally-driven, not knowledge-based negotiation decisions.

Inventory in the $100,000 to $199,999 range is low.

So what's important now?

Thinking of selling property in Spokane? Now is a great time to do it. Relocating? We're happy to hear it. You're relocating to Spokane at a time when the economy is growing, unemployment is low and homes are still affordable.

It's also an ideal time to invest, while the numbers are still working. Good news: we specialize in helping real estate investors succeed.

Contact us to find out how we can help you meet your goals.

The Opposite of Angry

A nice follow up to our earlier post about American's angriest cities is this report by Reader's Digest of the world's most courteous cities.

Somehow New York made it to the top of the list.

Suppress your guffaws and consider your travels abroad. In general don't Europeans (for example) tend to be aloof? If not aloof, indifferent? I don't think it's that they don't care; more likely they just won't help a stranger unless asked.

Or maybe it's unwise to generalize. What do you think?

H/T Sellsius.

How Angry is Spokane?

MensHealth.com has ranked the 100 angriest US Cities.

Their criteria?

The percentage of men with high blood pressure, from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; FBI rates of aggravated assaults; Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers on workplace deaths from assaults and other violence; traffic-congestion data from the Texas Transportation Institute; and speeding citations per state from the Governor's Highway Safety Association.

I nearly thought Spokane hadn't made the list, but there, tucked between #67 and #69 is Spokane.

It's hard to imagine we're an angrier city than San Francisco, CA.

(In other news, click here for a ranking of most charitable U.S. cities.)

H/T Dustbury.

NAR: Home Sales in Slight Decline

Home prices are still modestly increasing, but home sales are down.

From the National Association of Realtors:

"Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – declined 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.62 million units in June from an upwardly revised level of 6.71 million in May. Last month’s sales were 8.9 percent below the 7.27 million-unit pace in June 2005.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said the housing market is flattening-out. 'Over the last three months home sales have held in a narrow range, easing to a level that is near our annual projection, which tells us the market is stabilizing,” he said.

'At the same time, sellers have recognized that they need to be more competitive in their pricing given the rise in housing inventories. Home prices are only a little higher than a year ago.'”

The market has shifted slightly to favor buyers. The increase in inventory has led to a price correction that allows for a more balanced and less emotionally-driven market—which is positive—but also a more competitive one. More than ever, smart pricing is critical.

"The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $231,000 in June, up 0.9 percent from June 2005 when the median was $229,000. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Total housing inventory levels rose 3.8 percent at the end of June to 3.73 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 6.8-month supply at the current sales pace."

As we've mentioned before, however, the Spokane market is still very strong. Don't wait for this market to cool before you invest.