The Bellingham Real Estate Guy

Let Michael be your "Eyes on Bellingham Real Estate"

Michael Eisenberg
eXp Realty

360-739-6981 REALTOR®
michael.e@exprealty.com

Bellingham Real Estate Market Report – October 2019

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To see the extensive Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for October – Click Here

Here’s a quick look at the Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for October 2019 for residential home sales.
The number of residential sales for the month was 79 that is 6 more than October 2018 and 13 more than last month.
The average sales price of $535,203 is down 3% compared to last October and down 4% from last month.

The number of homes for sales last month to 146 there are now 1.8 months of inventory on the market, (if no new homes came on the market and sales rate was the same as it is today, they would all be sold in 1.8 months).   The number is still pretty small relative to years past.

There is still not much new construction in single-family homes.

Inventory is still low, but there are some new single-family projects scheduled for next year. There are 133 homes for sale the day I write this. Any home priced right is still snapped up quickly often with multiple offers. There are only 4 homes on the market under $300,00 and as of today the least expensive home on the market is $199,000 for a small tear down house on a busy street in the Roosevelt Neighborhood.

I believe home price will continue to rise as demand is still strong here in Bellingham.

Interest rates are down. There are still a shortage of homes for sale. There is still a lack of new construction homes. The economy is good here, and so is the weather (Compared to other parts of the country.) This all adds up to increasing prices in my mind.

Yes, multiple offers are still common in this market for any desirable home that is priced right.

Buyer’s, get a pre-approval letter from your lender ready to submit along with your offer if you are in a competitive market that may change soon.

If you don’t have it yet, start gathering the documents you will need to get one, which is usually 2 years of tax returns and 2 or 3 months of pay stubs. Check with your preferred lender or let me know if you need a recommendation to a good lender.

Want to learn more about the market let’s talk! If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Real Estate feel free to email me or give me a call at 360-739-6981

Click Here to find the Value of Your Home

Do recessions have affected real estate prices?

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Do recessions have affected real estate prices?  What do you think?

“Recession” can be a scary word, and people are always concerned about the correlation between recessions and what effect it has on the real estate market.

Let’s take a look at history to see what the numbers say. In a recession, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) goes down and the economy is affected, but that is not always true of real estate prices.

Here are some statistics regarding GDP and how real estate prices were affected by past recessions:

PERIOD OF RECESSION GDP Real Estate Prices
January 1980 – July 1980 Down 2.2% Up 4.5%
July 1981- November 1982 Down  2.7% Up 1.9%
July 1990 – March 1991 Down  1.4% Down 0.9%
March 2001 – November 2001 Down 0.3% Up 4.8%
December 2007 – June 2009 Down 5.1% Down 13.1%

Isn’t it interesting to notice that real estate prices have risen often gone up during a recession?  All other recessions except the Great Recession saw an increase in real estate sales prices.

The Great Recession of 2007-2008 was greatly impacted (if not caused) by the lack of legislation around mortgage lending, and the practice of giving mortgages to anyone that could fog a mirror.  That is no longer an issue with tighter regulations on lenders and the Dodd-Franks legislation. Let’s hope that the next recession will have a neutral impact on the real estate market.

 

Bellingham Real Estate Market Report – September 2019

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To see the extensive Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for September – Click Here

Here’s a quick look at the Bellingham Real Estate Market Report for September 2019 for residential home sales.
The number of residential sales for the month was 67 that is 22 less than September 2018 and 32 less than last month.
The average sales price of $516,059 is down 3% compared to last September and down 7% from last month.

The number of homes for sales last month to 105 there are now 1.9 months of inventory on the market, (if no new homes came on the market and sales rate was the same as it is today, they would all be sold in 1.9 months).   The number is still pretty small relative to years past.

There is still not much new construction in single-family homes.

Inventory is still low, but there are some new single-family projects scheduled for next year. There are 147 homes for sale the day I write this. Any home priced right is still snapped up quickly often with multiple offers. There are only 5 homes on the market under $300,00 and as of today the least expensive home on the market is $240,000 for asmall house in the Roosevelt Neighborhood.

Interest rates are down. But first time home buyers are still finding it hard to find an affordable home.

There are still buyers out there today looking for new homes but there is still a limited amount of homes for them to choose from.

Yes, multiple offers are still common in this market for any desirable home that is priced right.

Buyer’s, get a pre-approval letter from your lender ready to submit along with your offer if you are in a competitive market that may change soon.

If you don’t have it yet, start gathering the documents you will need to get one, which is usually 2 years of tax returns and 2 or 3 months of pay stubs. Check with your preferred lender or let me know if you need a recommendation to a good lender.

Want to learn more about the market let’s talk! If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Real Estate feel free to email me or give me a call at 360-739-6981

Click Here to find the Value of Your Home

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