February 2010 Archives

Lately many in our industry have been feeling & seeing signs that the local housing market has been improving, especially amongst our close-in, North Seattle neighborhoods.  Multiple offer situations???  I've been seeing a few here and there.  This article in the Seattle Times speaks to the recent break in the clouds.  Keep in mind that the numbers reflect King, Snohomish & Pierce counties, which bodes even better for Seattle.  Article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011161384_caseshiller24.html

That's right, this month your tax bill will be larger.  Here's the article as released by SeattlePI.com: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/415451_taxi16.html

According to an article in the February 5th Seattle Times, the average sales price of a Seattle home rose 3.8% in January compared to January of 2009. This is the first time the year over year figures have gone up in 2 years. Unfortunately, the suburbs and outlying areas' figures were down in the year to year comparison.

Brokers are hopeful that the upward trend will continue and spread to other areas as Spring arrives. Last month was the warmest January on record. The Tim was quoted in the article. He said, "Now that profit is no longer a given in people's minds when buying a home, buyers are realigning their priorities. They are less likely to 'drive till you qualify' when they realize that they probably won't be able to sell that far-flung home in a few years for tens or hundreds of thousands more than they paid and then move to the neighborhood they really wanted to live in, in the first place." Some people's glasses are always more than half empty.

The important thing to keep in mind is that the best time for you to buy or sell a home is when the events in your life start to tell you that you should. Trying to time what you do to some regional or national statistic does not necessarily make for a happy transaction. And you can't get better advice on this than calling a Lake and Company agent.