Wenatchee Real Estate By The Numbers
I promised yesterday that I'd give you some statistics about what is happening in the Wenatchee real estate market.
According to an article recently printed in the Wenatchee World (our local newspaper), the selling price of existing homes in Washington State rose an average of 13.4% to $238,900. In our Wenatchee area real estate market, the average selling price rose 20% to $163,700. More startling was the number of building permits issued has risen 95.3%! This number is startling, yet I'm not surprised because I can see it going on all around. There are new developments of, literally, hundreds of homes being constructed as I write, and you read.
O.K... can we figure out what is going on and why? Much of it is somewhat unexplainable, but some of it does make total sense. For one thing, as stated in the Wenatchee World article, Pacific Appraisal released information from a survey that indicates up to one-third of our sales are to people from outside the area. This, in itself, is amazing. So... if it weren't for this 33% of incoming buyers, would our market situation be totally different? Absolutely.
But, people are coming here in droves and for what? For the climate. We have around 300 days of sunshine a year. Even in the winter when it's 30 degrees or less outside, we often see the sun during the day. You can plan a picnic with your family on just about any summer day and the weather will most likely be fabulous (with the possible exception of some untimely rains during cherry season).
People come here for the week-end and love it so much they want to move here. They come for the recreational opportunities. We have Mission Ridge, a wonderful ski area within 12 miles of town for heaven's sake. We have a river running through the middle of town. We are a valley and have National Forests and mountains and hills and lakes all around us. After work every day, you can boat, swim, fish, hike, fly kites... whatever. They come for the schools because we're still a relatively small city.
People move here for the still affordable housing... even though some single income families would argue this point. Remember our average priced home is still about $75,000 less than the state average. They're coming for the still small town atmosphere with the amenities of the big city.
Did you know the median price of a home in the San Francisco area is a staggering $770,000? In San Diego is it $484,000 and Los Angeles it is $447,000. Whoa. Can you really wonder why people are tempted to take their equity and run to Wenatchee... buy a beautiful house for $250,000 and invest the rest of the money, and live happily ever after?
That's it for now. Just some more food for thought.
Carol
According to an article recently printed in the Wenatchee World (our local newspaper), the selling price of existing homes in Washington State rose an average of 13.4% to $238,900. In our Wenatchee area real estate market, the average selling price rose 20% to $163,700. More startling was the number of building permits issued has risen 95.3%! This number is startling, yet I'm not surprised because I can see it going on all around. There are new developments of, literally, hundreds of homes being constructed as I write, and you read.
O.K... can we figure out what is going on and why? Much of it is somewhat unexplainable, but some of it does make total sense. For one thing, as stated in the Wenatchee World article, Pacific Appraisal released information from a survey that indicates up to one-third of our sales are to people from outside the area. This, in itself, is amazing. So... if it weren't for this 33% of incoming buyers, would our market situation be totally different? Absolutely.
But, people are coming here in droves and for what? For the climate. We have around 300 days of sunshine a year. Even in the winter when it's 30 degrees or less outside, we often see the sun during the day. You can plan a picnic with your family on just about any summer day and the weather will most likely be fabulous (with the possible exception of some untimely rains during cherry season).
People come here for the week-end and love it so much they want to move here. They come for the recreational opportunities. We have Mission Ridge, a wonderful ski area within 12 miles of town for heaven's sake. We have a river running through the middle of town. We are a valley and have National Forests and mountains and hills and lakes all around us. After work every day, you can boat, swim, fish, hike, fly kites... whatever. They come for the schools because we're still a relatively small city.
People move here for the still affordable housing... even though some single income families would argue this point. Remember our average priced home is still about $75,000 less than the state average. They're coming for the still small town atmosphere with the amenities of the big city.
Did you know the median price of a home in the San Francisco area is a staggering $770,000? In San Diego is it $484,000 and Los Angeles it is $447,000. Whoa. Can you really wonder why people are tempted to take their equity and run to Wenatchee... buy a beautiful house for $250,000 and invest the rest of the money, and live happily ever after?
That's it for now. Just some more food for thought.
Carol
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 at 11:50AM
by
Carol Williams
in Wenatchee WA Real Estate Trends
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Carol Williams
in Wenatchee WA Real Estate Trends
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