The Q2 Western Washington Gardner Report

 


Posted on July 25, 2020 at 12:12 am
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Trends |

Update on Mortgage Forbearance

 

 

On this week’s episode of “Mondays with Matthew”, Matthew Gardner provides an update on the mortgage forbearance program and what type of effect we can expect it to have on the US housing market. 


Posted on June 25, 2020 at 7:19 pm
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Home Ownership, Market Updates, Trends |

A Snapshot

I look forward to presenting this infographic to you on a monthly basis moving forward.  It gives you an easy way to digest changes year over year, and compare month to month if you look back at previous month’s snapshots.  I was surprised to see that the Available Inventory Ratio increased this year over last year.  What was not a surprise was the almost 50% reduction in New Construction sales year over year.  When New Construction stopped due to Covid, all the homes in the process of being built came to a screeching halt.  Hopefully we will see this percent increase over the next few months as builders are catching up on delayed construction.

Most note-able is the INCREASE in closed sales price as we gathered from the infographic above, There was a 6% increase in home value from May 2019 to May 2020!
For those of you that were convinced that Covid-19 would have an affect on the Real Estate Market- are you surprised?!

Posted on June 24, 2020 at 9:46 pm
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Snapshots, Trends |

Current Numbers that Matter – Week 14

Catch-Up Market

Everything appears to be playing catch-up.  More and more listings are coming on the market, and really values never did decrease! You can read more about that below.

With that said, this will be the last weekly Covid-19 numbers, and I will be returning back to my monthly updates. I’ve truly appreciated all those who have followed along, asked questions and engaged.

BACK TO THE DATA

For this last week, lets take a step back and look at some Year to Date (to the end of May) vs. 2019’s same time period and a Market Snapshot for May.

That’s Appreciation!

Take a look below- do you see an area that Median Prices DID NOT increase?!  The answer is NO!  Looking at January thru end of May in 2019 compared to the same time period in 2020, Median Home Price went up in each area of Whatcom County,

Posted on June 24, 2020 at 12:17 am
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Trends |

Current Numbers that Matter – Week 13

Gratitude and Reflection

There have been so many big, difficult, and heartbreaking things going on that require face-to-face conversations to help us connect, learn, and grow. If for no other reason, I am grateful to be in Phase 2 for just that- to see faces in person and have opportunities to talk about these issues!

BACK TO THE DATA

New Listings for 2019 went down from last week to this week last year, and for 2020 they increased. We are seeing increasing listings as our county moves to feeling more safe with Covid-19.  I am truly interested to see if we catch up to where we normally are YTD with new listings over the next month.  My prediction is we will continue to see an increase in the number of listings each week. I know I’ve never simultaneously prepped as many lisitngs at one time as I am working on right now!

  • 2019: 133 → 108
  • 2020: 86 → 92

UNDER CONTRACT

Below is an accounting of all of the active listings on the market in our three major markets along with all of the sales that went under contract from 6/6 to 6/12/20 (pulled around Noon PST) and the percentage relationship between those numbers.

Last week, as it was announced that our county was approved to move to Phase 2 of Washington’s Safe Start Plan, I was guessing that we’d start seeing the Under Contract numbers start creeping up. I was mostly correct- while Bellingham’s Under Contract numbers fell from 30, Ferndale and Lynden both saw an increase. I think this is just the beginning.

ADOM

The second chart represents the Average Days on Market (ADOM) for the homes that are currently active and that went under contract between 6/6/20 and 6/12/20. “Days on Market” is how long the home was active on the market before the seller accepted an offer.

The Under Contract homes in the Bellingham and Ferndale Markets did see a drop in numbers over the week, but Lynden increased from 19 to 88 days!

% PRICE DIFFERENCE

The last set of data below is the average prices of the active listings and the average prices of the homes that went under contract last week. What we are mostly paying attention to here is how the % difference is changing from week to week to see how COVID-19 might be affecting the offer price that homes receive.

We are back to lower Under Contract average prices than Active average prices in all three areas. The biggest percent difference being in Ferndale. There were 10 new listings brought on the market over $800,000 in Whatcom County in the last week- which is a lot compared to the last 12 weeks.

Posted on June 15, 2020 at 11:28 pm
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Trends |

Current Numbers that Matter – Week 12

Moving On to Phase 2!

Welcome to June! It was announced today that the Washington State Secretary of Health has accepted Whatcom County’s application to move on to Phase 2 of the Washington’s Safe Start Plan. You can read a broad explanation of what that means here, and here are a few key changes:

  • Lets you have 5 people inside household
  • Restaurants can open to 50% capacity (with no bar seating)
  • Real Estate, Nail Salons, and Barbers can open

I will also explain below what that means specifically for my business and the real estate world.

BACK TO THE DATA

New Listings for both 2019 and 2020 increased over the last week: This is typical, healthy trend as we get further into a spring market!

  • 115 → 133 in 2019
  • 69 → 86 in 2020

UNDER CONTRACT

Below is an accounting of all of the active listings on the market in our three major markets along with all of the sales that went under contract from 5/30 to 6/5/20 (pulled around Noon PST) and the percentage relationship between those numbers.

Numbers are still hovering around the same general areas. If I had to guess I would see we will see our Under Contract Sales % creep up as everyone gets more comfortable moving into phase 2!

ADOM

The second chart represents the Average Days on Market (ADOM) for the homes that are currently active and that went under contract between 5/30/20 and 6/5/20. “Days on Market” is how long the home was active on the market before the seller accepted an offer.

As in a normal market there’s some fluctuation week-to-week in the DOM for the under contract sales. It will be interesting to see if the Difference in Days changes at all as we move into Phase 2!

% PRICE DIFFERENCE

The last set of data below is the average prices of the active listings and the average prices of the homes that went under contract last week. What we are mostly paying attention to here is how the % difference is changing from week to week to see how COVID-19 might be affecting the offer price that homes receive.

Yet again, Lynden is having homes go under contract that are priced higher than the average priced active home in the area. Bellingham had some lower priced homes go under contract this week that brought an 11% change!

Posted on June 9, 2020 at 12:17 am
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Tracie's Thoughts, Trends |

Current Numbers that Matter – Week 11

Getting Things Rolling Again

After being cooped up for so long, no doubt you have noticed things around your home that you would like to fix or upgrade. Many contractors are slowly getting back to work after weeks of not being able to, and I have had clients asking for referrals of those I trust for the work. My Vendors page on my website has a list to all my trusted contractors.

BACK TO THE DATA

While the number of New Listings in 2019 remained the same over the last 2 weeks at 115, the number of New Listings over the last week this year increase by 13.
UNDER CONTRACT

Below is an accounting of all of the active listings on the market in our three major markets along with all of the sales that went under contract from 5/23 to 5/29/20 (pulled around Noon PST) and the percentage relationship between those numbers.

Minor fluctuations again. The biggest to note this week is Bellingham, which saw an increase of 10 new Active Listings, and dropped from 40 to 25 homes Under Contract.

ADOM

The second chart represents the Average Days on Market (ADOM) for the homes that are currently active and that went under contract between 5/23/20 and 5/29/20. “Days on Market” is how long the home was active on the market before the seller accepted an offer.

AGAIN- Actives in all 3 areas continue to stay at a pretty steady DOM number over the weeks. As in a normal market there’s some fluctuation week-to-week in the DOM for the under contract sales.

% PRICE DIFFERENCE

The last set of data below is the average prices of the active listings and the average prices of the homes that went under contract last week. What we are mostly paying attention to here is how the % difference is changing from week to week to see how COVID-19 might be affecting the offer price that homes receive.

Lynden made a come back this week with higher than average price homes going pending.


Posted on June 2, 2020 at 12:05 am
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Trends |

Current Numbers that Matter – Week 10

Staying Put a Little Longer

This week, officials announced that the closure for non-essential travel over the border crossing to Canada has been extended until the end of June. So, we will have to wait a little longer for any fun rendezvous up north. I am curious to pay attention to how many of our Canadian buyers and sellers are unable to participate in our market right now as well. Also new this week, Skagit County Community College is providing drive-thru testing for COVID-19.

BACK TO THE DATA

Comparing this last week to the same week last year, we are again just under half the amount of New Listings for Whatcom County.  The market continues to fluctuate normally week to week- the numbers for both years went down since my update last week; reported last week was 137 in 2019, and 65 in 2020.

UNDER CONTRACT

Below is an accounting of all of the active listings on the market in our three major markets along with all of the sales that went under contract from 5/9 to 5/15/20 (pulled around Noon PST) and the percentage relationship between those numbers.

The biggest changes here are that in Bellingham, the homes under contract DOUBLED (BIG WEEK BELLINGHAM!!!), and in Lynden, only 1 house went under contract in the last week.

ADOM

The second chart represents the Average Days on Market (ADOM) for the homes that are currently active and that went under contract between 5/9/20 and 5/15/20. “Days on Market” is how long the home was active on the market before the seller accepted an offer.

Actives in all 3 areas continue to stay at a pretty steady DOM number over the weeks. As in a normal market there’s some fluctuation week-to-week in the DOM for the under contract sales.

% PRICE DIFFERENCE

The last set of data below is the average prices of the active listings and the average prices of the homes that went under contract last week. What we are mostly paying attention to here is how the % difference is changing from week to week to see how COVID-19 might be affecting the offer price that homes receive.

WOW= that 1 house that went under contract in Lynden this last week brought the average down, and the % difference up substantially!

Posted on May 27, 2020 at 12:03 am
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Trends |

Current Numbers that Matter – Week 9

 

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Beginning & Ending on High Notes

Our new normal seems to be becoming less new and more normal, just in time for our Phase 1 to be coming to an end- maybe one more week (at the earliest), and then we move on to Phase 2!

It’s still not business as usual – no open houses, only serious homebuyers touring, all showings by appointment only regardless of occupancy (vacant or occupied), showings limited to two people on a property (broker and client) with proper social distancing, and most everyone is sporting a mask.

*All of the agents at Windermere continue to protect our community through taking extra precautions to safely do business with us! We are wearing masks, gloves, and making sure to wipe down every surface we come in contact with!* 

BACK TO THE DATA

Comparing this last week to the same week last year, we are just under half the amount of New Listings for Whatcom County.  Considering everything going on this year, 65 in a week is not terrible.

UNDER CONTRACT

Below is an accounting of all of the active listings on the market in our three major markets along with all of the sales that went under contract from 5/9 to 5/15/20 (pulled around Noon PST) and the percentage relationship between those numbers.

The numbers for New Listings in all areas have only fluctuated a little bit since last week. How many weeks in a row have I been saying that? Small fluctuations are normal, and even though our total number of listings are less that what they would normally be, the market is fairly STEADY (in this the new normal?).

ADOM

The second chart represents the Average Days on Market (ADOM) for the homes that are currently active and that went under contract between 5/9/20 and 5/15/20. “Days on Market” is how long the home was active on the market before the seller accepted an offer.

If we look at the 3rd column, the higher the difference in days there is shows us that the homes that are under contract, have been on the market for a shorter time than the homes that haven’t accepted an offer. They might be priced too high, or not going pending for any number of reasons.

% PRICE DIFFERENCE

The last set of data below is the average prices of the active listings and the average prices of the homes that went under contract last week. What we are mostly paying attention to here is how the % difference is changing from week to week to see how COVID-19 might be affecting the offer price that homes receive.

Bellingham’s Under Contract Average price sure did change this week- a $1.9 million home pended!  That sure changes the numbers!  Lynden finally had homes go under contract that are priced less than the average for actives.

Posted on May 19, 2020 at 9:36 pm
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Tracie's Thoughts, Trends |

Mondays with Matthew: Let’s Discuss Mortgage Forbearance

 

On this week’s episode of “Monday’s with Matthew,” Matthew Gardner discusses mortgage forbearance and whether it will help or hurt the US housing market and what you should take into consideration if you are deciding whether or not it is an option for you!


Posted on May 12, 2020 at 7:49 pm
Tracie Gulit | Posted in Market Updates, Trends |

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