Real Estate Statistics for Kitsap County, WA 2/18/2007

Watching stats like these will help you determine what kind of a market you are in.
For Kitsap County Washington as of 2/18/2007
1350 Active Listings
71 Homes went Pending last week
77 Average Days on Market

$305,601 Average List Price
$300,937 Average Sale Price

98% List price to sale price ratio

19 weeks of inventory

Learn more about Defining Your Market.

Who owns the listing data?

I just finished reading and responding to a discussion in the INMAN blog

http://www.inman.com/hstory.aspx?ID=61445

The reason I think this is an important issue is because it comes down to, who is responsible for the way your home is marketed?

In my opinion that should be your real estate professional.

Many websites are building traffic to their site by using other peoples information. The challenge with this is that information becomes dated or is entered on the third party site incorrectly or incompletely. By ensuring the chain of ownership and responsibility you can be sure your property is marketed in it's best light.


Here is my response or comment in that blog:

To answer who owns the listing information you need only follow the chain of responsibility.

The real estate broker/agent enters into a contract with a seller, which allows the real estate broker/agent to offer and market the seller’s property for sale.

The real estate broker/agent is responsible for entering the information into their local MLS, print media as well as any internet marketing that is done. If the information is incorrect or incomplete the broker and agent are held responsible.

If it were not for the listing agreement the information would not be made available. The listing information provided is usually above and beyond what is public record through county records.

The photos added, the descriptions used and the pricing strategy are all services brought to bear by the real estate firm and its agents.

Since real estate agents can not practice real estate unless they are a broker or work for a brokerage firm, ownership of the listing, the data and the responsibility lands squarely at the broker’s feet.

Annual Real Estate Update for Kitsap County WA

At the end of each year I send out a letter to all of my clients with a 1 page update on what is happening in Kitsap County. Below is this years letter:

I hope this annual letter and calendar find you and yours doing well. Please note that your calendar starts on December 1^st so go ahead and start planning next year today.

2006 has been a good year in real estate despite the doom and gloom you might have heard earlier in the year. The markets throughout the US that had the highest run up in value are the ones that had the biggest decline. Our area has done quite well. Though inventory and market time are up so is the value of your home. In general the value of your home has increased about 9% this year, a much more sustainable increase over the 20% increase of 2005.

Some Stats comparing 2006 to 2004 & 05 for Kitsap County (through Nov. 1 2006)

2004 2005 2006

# of New Listings: 5038 5237 5634

# of transactions: 3823 3871 3406

Avg. Days on Market: 65 58 63

Avg. Sale Price $254,809 $307,235 $336,299 (+9%)

If you were a seller in 2006 you had to be a bit more patient than you’ve had to have been over the past few years. You were not able to choose a list price as aggressive as in the past. Bottom line though is houses are still selling and sellers continue to see appreciation.

If you were a buyer in 2006 you’ve actually had the best of both worlds. Interest rates continue to stay low and you have more houses to choose from. The icing on the cake is that sellers have had to be a little more flexible in their sale price and have been more open to paying some of your closing costs.

I’ve developed two web resources to help you keep up with our market:

Website: http://www.franklyrealestate.com

Blogsite: http://franklyrealestate.blogspot.com (see what is in store for 2007)

Politics/Taxes – This last election cycle has brought in a new County Commissioner. Since there are only 3 Commissioners involved in making decisions for us at the County level the change out of 1 can have a large impact. This last change brings with it an increased risk to your property rights and increases the likely hood of increased taxes. Now, more than ever you need to be prepared to speak out if you see something going on that you disagree with. Letters to your local and state representatives as well as letters to the editor are great tools to get your point across.

Around Town – Bremerton continues to flourish, its skyline almost unrecognizable from a few years ago. We have real, on purpose condominiums being built where in the past Kitsap has seen apartment looking condos or converted condos. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge continues its construction. Stay tuned to http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/goodtogo/ to sign up for your “good to go” sticker that will allow easy passage on the bridge without having to stop and pay a toll

Please have a wonderful holiday season and a safe, healthy and prosperous new year. Should you know of anyone thinking about buying or selling real estate in 2007 please let me know or if you just want a market update please feel free to call or check out one of my web resources mentioned above.



PS Sorry for the formatting, apparantly Blogger does not like info from MS Word.

Conventional Conforming Loan Limits for 2007

Though I'm not a lender this information will affect buyers in todays market.

2007 Loan Limits
for Conventional Conforming Loans

Oregon and
Washington
single-family to $417,000
two-family to $533,850
three-family to $645,300
four-family to $801,950

Thank you to Cherie Kesti of Windermere Mortgage Services for the above information; www.windermeremortgageservices.com

What is in store for Kitsap County real estate in 2007.

What is in store for Kitsap County real estate in 2007.

2006 is wrapping up nicely. Homes have continued to appreciate on the average of 9% this year. Though homes are on the market a little longer and sellers are having to be a bit more flexible it is still a very good time to own a home and an even better time to be buying one. Buyers have the best of all worlds right now, interest rates are low and home choices are up.

2007 will see much of the same. It appears interest rates will continue to be low or lower than the historical average. Home values should continue to appreciate between 4 and 7%. There will be an increase in new construction over the next few years. From a consumers stand point it will be important to be able to compare homes on their attributes and not just compare cost per square foot. We are seeing builders build smaller garages, use vinyl siding, employ manmade products for molding, countertops and flooring and use various grades of lighting, linoleum and carpets. Granted, these are all attempts to build an affordable home but just be sure you can compare one home to another from an informed prospective. It is also worth a moment of time to consider having your own real estate agent represent you as your “buyers agent” instead of settling with the agent who is on site and represents the builder.

Second Home and Vacation Home Ownership

Over the past few years we have seen a large increase in second & vacation home ownership. My company, Windermere Real Estate, conducted a survey to learn more about this trend. Here are the results of that survey.

2006 Windermere Vacation Home Ownership Survey Results

• Distance of vacation home
from primary residence
20% under 50 miles
23% 50 to 100 miles
16% 100 to 200 miles
41% over 200 miles

• Type of home
54% Detached single-family home
23% Condominium/apartment
17% Cabin
2% Mobile home/manufactured home
4% Other

• Time spent at vacation home
in the past year
8% No days
12% 1 to 7 days
40% 2 to 4 weeks
31% 1 to 3 months
7% 3 to 6 months
2% 6 months or more

• Is the home rented when not in use
27% Rent out
73% Do not rent out

• Likelihood the property will become their primary home when they retire
16% Very likely
20% Somewhat likely
15% Somewhat unlikely
45% Very unlikely
4% Don’t know

Real Estate Statistics for Kitsap County, WA 9/18/2006

Watching stats like these will help you determine what kind of a market you are in.
For Kitsap County Washington as of 9/18/2006

1595 Active Listings
49 Homes went Pending last week
60 Average Days on Market

$298,829 Average List Price
$295,421 Average Sale Price

99% List price to sale price ratio

32.55 weeks of inventory

Learn more about Defining Your Market.

Vacation Home Ownership Profile

Vacation Home
Ownership Profile

• About 16 percent of homeowners surveyed also own a second home.
• While boomers continue to drive the vacation-home boom, a third of vacation-home owners are under the age of 35.
• 67 percent of vacation-home owners claim sole ownership of their property. A little over a quarter of those surveyed owned their getaway jointly with family or friends.

My company, Windermere Real Estae, has been doing research and surveys about vacation home ownership. The next few entries will share that information.

Information for becoming a licensed real estate agent.

There is a lot of information available about becoming a real estate agent. One of the best places to start the information hunt is at the web page of the department of licesning of the state you hope to practice in. Washington state has just developed a new web site, here is the link:

http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/realestate/

For links to other western states DOLs please visit this web page:

http://franklyrealestate.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&page=12133&parent=12023

Real Estate Statistics for 8/21/2006 for Kitsap County, Washington

Watching stats like these will help you determine what kind of a market you are in.
For Kitsap County Washington as of 8/21/2006

1482 Active Listings
70 Homes went Pending last week
61 Average Days on Market

$295,121 Average List Price
$291,857 Average Sale Price

99% List price to sale price ratio

21.17 weeks of inventory

Learn more about Defining Your Market.

Trick of the trade. Its not always about real estate....

All cell phone companies typically charge $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don’t have to. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial 1-800/FREE 411, or 1-800/373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone. This works on your home telephone as well.

Real Estate Agents Take Note, Different Market, Different Customer, Same Product Which is Service!!

The real estate customer of today is very different than the real estate customer before the age of technology. Gen Xers (currently those in their 20s to 30s), currently make up about 34 percent of the real estate customers in the United States. Because of their technological “know-how,” they demand information faster then the average agent can provide it. They prefer informative advertising over persuasive advertising. They have limited loyalty and are becoming the advisors to their baby boomer parents.

With the onset of the Internet and very successful Web search portals such as Google, the real estate process can take 13 to 24 days instead of what used to be 45 to 60 days. Customers no longer need to rely on the real estate agent for information such as listing data and sold data because it’s readily available on the Internet. Studies show that a typical Gen X buyer takes an average of 13 months from the time he or she starts looking for a home until the home is purchased. Sellers take an average of nine months from the time they start thinking about selling their home until their home is sold. Studies also show that the average Gen X customer only takes a day to pick a real estate agent and 82 percent will go with the first agent that responded in a timely manner with quality information and services. We also know that 74 percent of the real estate customers start the entire process online.

What is it going to take to keep up and be a top notch real estate agent? You have to be first, fast, frequent, very professional and consistent.

Here are some ideas to think about if you haven’t already:

Are you first to get back to a customer when they e-mail you? The average Gen X customer expects a reply in two hours or less. If you cannot reply by then, it is important that you are using an autoresponder. Using an autoresponder will also allow you to attract the customer by using helpful links imbedded in your reply message, like your personal Web site or links to useful school or community information.

How fast do you respond? The successful agent will have a combo cell/PDA phone. Today your choices are numerous. Between the Trio, the Blackberry, and the Pocket PC, you can now have e-mail and listing data at your fingertips and be able to respond instantly to your customers.

How frequently do you communicate and market to new and existing customers? Studies show that average agents in the United States only market 0-6 months to a possible new customer and 0-2 times a year for an existing customer. If you fall into that once-a year-calendar, you are probably losing would-be customers. Remember, to be effective with a marketing program, it needs to deliver a message of value and a Web presence, or this new breed of customer probably won’t take the time to view it. I often receive “Just Sold” postcards in the mail, and the agent will ask for my business with the message, “For more info, please call...” The chance of me calling is slim to none. However, I do look for a Web site on that postcard where I can get online and see information on my own terms. This is typically the mind set of many of your initial customers. Having a place on the Web for information in the early stages is key to building relationships that will build your book of business.

In todays market some thoughts:
1) Don't mistake speed for accuracy...even though information gets back to you quickly...check it out.
2) Keep in mind that technology is just a tool, it does not substatute for service or relationships.
3) Don't get stuck in High Tech...No Touch, don't hide behind the tech.
4) As electronic communications increases so will the value of a handshake or hand written note.

Thank you to Mike Fanning, VP of Affiliate Developement for Windermere and a frequent contributing author to this blog.