Clark County WA Real Estate Report for November 2012

Here is a Clark County report for the period of November these statistics come from the RMLS.  This year I saw a complete positive change in our local real estate market.  Really low inventory and low interest rates have helped improve our market locally.  The demand for housing in Clark County is active and doing much better.  

Closed sales compared to November 2011

Up 23% 428 closed homes vs. 348

Inventory status is 5.2

It would take 5.2 months to sell our inventory

2,212 homes for sale keep in mind this includes to be built and short sale pending indicating the real actual number is lower

Today's inventory is 2170 subtract the 523 short sale pending and we have 1647 subtract the to be built the real number maybe less than 1400

Year to date

6,980 new listings - down 15% compared to last year

5,263 pending sales - 3% more accepted offers

5,025 closed sales - up 8.5% compared to last year

Improvements compared to the same period of last year

The average sales price up 4% $221,000 vs. $212,500

The median homes sale price is up 2.8% $192000 vs. $186,900

Building permits

"Experts say the 84 percent year-over-year increase in the county's October housing starts stemmed from dwindling supplies of new

and existing houses for sale and historically low mortgage interest rates. In unincorporated Clark County, builders were issued 61 permits

last month by Clark County's Community Development Department to construct single-family homes valued at $19.3 million total. 

The figure compares with 33 permits valued at $11.3 million in October 2011."   Reported November 9th 2012 from The Columbian

Foreclosure rate

"The number of Clark County homes in foreclosure rose 33 percent from October to November, and also increased 77 percent from November 2011, according to a report issued Wednesday Foreclosures continued to hobble parts of the U.S. housing market in November as well, as lenders adjusted to new ground rules set forth by the National Mortgage Settlement, according to RealtyTrac.Nationwide, November foreclosures decreased 3 percent from the previous month and were down 19 percent from November 2011." Reported December 12th, 2012 from The Columbian

Best regards,

Bret Bucher

Broker

Sandy Scott Uptown Realty Inc

360-600-5555 

The real estate activity is slowly showing some positive signs of improvement in Clark County.  Looks like everyone jumped off the fence this year and maybe the low 3.65% 30 year rates that I have seen on a purchase is the motivation because we are seeing some real good signs of improvement here in Clark County.  Let's go ahead and take a look at the results from the RMLS, and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this.

Comparing July 2012 to July 2011
Accepted offers up 3%. 
Pending sales up and the highest since the month of July 2009.

Closed sales
Increased 6.5% from July 2011.
Year to date closed transaction up 5.3%.
July had the highest amount of sales for the year 2012.

Listings
Down 11.2% compared to July 2011.
Shrinking 1.5% from last month.
Inventory is at 5.4 meaning it would take 5.4 months to sell all our existing listings.
We have the same amount of inventory as we did last month.
There are 2,628 listings in Clark County.
The real numbers are much lower after subtracting
the proposed to be built and the Short Sale Pending.
The actual number might be 1,620 listings. Real homes to walk through.
Clark County has the lowest amount of inventory since June 2006.
How many bank owned? 52

Sales
Up 7.6% compared to July 2011.
Average sale price rose 7.6% from $211,300 to $227,400.
Median sales price rose 8.4% from $183,300 to $198,700.

Distressed Homes
838 total short sales.
592 short sale pending.
A short sale is a pre-foreclosure that the lien holder may sell short of the balance of debt secured to a property.
A short sale may not actually sell because of many reasons associated with the property. 

Foreclosures from Realty Trac
Down for 5 consecutive months.
Dropped 38% from July 2011.
Highest amount of foreclosures out of the 39 counties in Washington State.

New Construction
416 proposed to be built.
73 underway with the process of building.
297 new.
Building permits up 52% for July.
Year to date 290 permits issued a 42% increase.

Today's Market Demographically
We are seeing renters playing a big role and purchasing their home.  The rental market is white hot because the Portland Oregon metropolitan area's has the lowest vacancy rates in the nation.  Also people that have owned for 15 - 30 years are either down sizing or making a change in location.  Believe it or not we are seeing people who went through the process of a short sale returning to the market and purchasing.

One great opportunity to buy a home today.  If you know anyone looking to buy or sell please consider me.  I appreciate referrals.  The best way to begin in real estate is understanding the market and what to expect as a buyer or a seller.