Whatcom County home prices down 4.5 percent, sales plunge in 2008

DAVE GALLAGHER - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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The 2008 local housing market saw an annual drop in median home prices for the first time this decade, according to a new housing report.

The median price of Whatcom County homes sold dropped 4.5 percent to $276,900, according to Lylene Johnson of The Muljat Group South office in Fairhaven. Johnson analyzes data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and historical records in creating her housing report. The service tracks sales of homes sold by real estate agents.

It was the first drop recorded in Johnson's end-of-year report this decade.

Residential statistics from the report for all of 2008:
Whatcom County � Median sales price, $276,900, down 4.5 percent; average sales price, $317,740, down 5.1 percent; total homes sold, 1,981, down 26.4 percent; average days on the market, 101, up 2 percent.
Bellingham � Median sales price, $299,000, down 5 percent; average sales price, $359,151, down 4 percent; total homes sold, 881, down 28 percent; average days on the market, 121, down 2 percent.
Lynden � Median sales price, $296,975, down 1 percent; average sales price, $324,636, up 2 percent; total homes sold, 182, down 16 percent; average days on the market, 101, up 32 percent.
Ferndale � Median sales price, $290,000, down 5 percent; average sales price, $309,345, down 7 percent; total homes sold, 257, down 28 percent; average days on the market, 103, down 2 percent.
Sudden Valley � Median sales price, $255,750, down 6 percent; average sales price, $267,795, down 10 percent; total homes sold, 142, down 29 percent; average days on the market, 102, up 6 percent.
Blaine/Birch Bay � Median sales price, $249,925, down 4 percent; average sales price, $281,518, down 14 percent; total homes sold, 262, down 24 percent; average days on the market, 113, down 5 percent.
Nooksack Valley (median sales price unavailable) � Average sales price, $274,054, down 7 percent; total homes sold, 93, down 2 percent; average days on the market, 91, down 10 percent.
Mount Baker (median sales price unavailable) � Average sales price, $181,330, up 8 percent; total homes sold, 120, down 31 percent; average days on the market, 104, down 5 percent.

According to the Whatcom County Real Estate Research Report, which uses other data to determine the home sales but tracks farther back, the last time the median price decreased locally was 1985, when the midpoint of all sales was $52,600.

Even more significant in 2008 was the slowdown in home sales, dropping 26.4 percent across Whatcom County. Real estate agents sold 1,981 homes in 2008, well off the peak of 3,052 in 2003.

While the median price drop is less severe than what many other areas across the U.S. have experienced, Johnson is concerned about what will happen if home sales don't recover soon.

"If home sales remain slow, inventory will rise and price drops will pick up momentum," Johnson said. "We continued to see significant decreases in the number of homes sold in the final few months of the year, which tells me the market has not stabilized."

She expects the year-over-year January home sale numbers to be down substantially, because people were not looking at homes locally last month, whether it was because of the severe winter weather, the economy or the holidays.

"I think real estate will trend downward for the next six months," Johnson said. "My hope is that it is a shallow drop. We've had a lower foreclosure rate than much of the country, and low interest rates certainly won't hurt."

The county's condominium market experienced similar drops in price and sales. Median price was down 3.4 percent to $191,937 in 2008, while sales were down 32 percent compared to the previous year.

One effect of the real estate slowdown is the trimming of real estate agents. Mark Brown, outgoing president of Whatcom County Association of Realtors, said the number of active agents in Whatcom County was 790 at the end of 2008, down from 880 during the real estate boom period. He expects that number to drop to around 700 this year.