Fred Gibbs - Realtor, Clark County WA

 
 

Spring 2010

Property Value & Appreciation

How is my area doing? Are values going up? The figures below are based on the average sales price for all new and pre-owned homes in Clark County.

Comparing the last
12 months to the
12 months previous.
NE Heights  - 20.4%
SW Heights 13.7%
Orchards - 12.7%
Evergreen - 13.7%
Cascade Park - 10.8%
Fishers Landing - 11.1%
Camas City - 16.9%
Lincoln/HD - 17.7%
5 Corners - 14.9%
S. Salmon Creek - 14.8%
N. Felida - 12.1%
N. Hazel Dell - 16.5%
N. Salmon Creek - 21.9%
Brush Prairie - 15.7%
Yacolt - 15.5%
Battleground 10.9%
Washougal - 16.5%
Clark County - 14.6%
Cowlitz County - 7.4%
Pacific - 5.8%

Buyers Will Be Pinched
by FHA’s New Rules

These policy changes, an­nounced in late January, while serious, are designed to shore up the FHA’s capital reserves and help the agency do a better job of managing risk. Buyers will either have to spend more to secure financing, or scale down on what they are buying. FHA is raising it’s upfront mortgage insurance premium from 1.75% to 2.25%. It’s boosting the minimum down payment to 10% for borrowers with a credit score of 580 and below (it stays at 3.5% for every­one else), and reducing the per­missible seller concessions (closing costs the seller can pay for the buyer) from 6% to 3%.

Buyers can still borrow the down payment from their parents, grand parents, etc. Proof that the parents/grandparents have the money will still be necessary.

Year End 2009

December Highlights
Same month sales activity continued to grow county wide. Closed sales in­creased 48.1%, pendings by 33.8% over Dec. 08. Comparing November 2009 to December 2009, closings fell 10% and pending sales dropped 12.5%. This is not surpris­ing, the holidays are not the strongest time for sales. Inventory in months is 7.6, with 3,212 active listings throughout the county.

2009 Summary
Comparing 2009 vs. 2008: Closed sales increased 13.8% and pending sales were up 19.5%. New listings fell 23%. Total sales volume for 2009 was $1.2 billion which nearly matched 2008.

Sale Prices
Average sales price was down 5.2% in December 2009 com­pared to 2008, while the me­dian sales price dropped 8.9%. Average sales price in 2009 dropped to $237,800 vs. $278,300 in 2008, a 14.6% lessening. More sales in 2009 but the average sale price was less. By far, the majority of sales were under the $300,000 sales price.

 

Vancouver
& Clark
County
  New
Listings
Pending
Sales
Closed
Sales
Average
Sales
Price
Median
Sales
Price
Total
Market
Time
2009 Dec 523 356 422 244,400 211,600 145
  YTD 10,060 5,492 5,077 237,800 211,500 156
2008 Dec 576 266 285 257,700 232,300 173
  YTD 13,063 4,595 4,461 278,300 242,000 150
Change Dec -9.2% 33.8% 48.1% -5.2% -8.9% -16.1%
  YTD -23.0% 19.5% 13.8% -14.6% -12.6% 4.1%