Real estate prices in Sequim and Port Angeles and throughout the Seattle area are holding up well compared to other investments, particularly the stock market right now. USA Today published an article on October 8, 2008 entitled, “$2 Trillion Wiped Out of Retirement Funds.” While this represents a 20% decline in retirement funds in a matter of weeks, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service data shows the average price of a single family home is down only 7.8% this September compared to September of 2007.
This is good news for home owners and for investors who are not over leveraged. Again, we see that real estate is a solid investment compared to other retirement options.
In Clallam County, the third quarter of this year (July – Sept 2008) the sales of single family homes were priced as follows:
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Comparing these numbers to last year’s third quarter (July – Sept 2007):
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The median price this year is only down $25,500 from last year. That’s real money, but it’s not a fortune by any means. Days on market (DOM) are up, but not substantially for these sold homes. [To weight the data for more accurate results, I eliminated the homes sold above $700,000, which represents a small segment of our market but can skew the data and the results.]
This should be encouraging news for those in real estate. We are in challenging times, but we will get past this disruptive election cycle and the economy will stabilize, and we will get back to normal.
Last Updated on October 9, 2008 by Chuck Marunde
