2009 Spokane Year-End Market Report
The stats are in! Year end closed sales totaled 4,664 down 5% from 2008 when 4,910 closed sales were reported. Interestingly, halfway through 2009 closed sales were down nearly 23%, so activity picked up significantly in the second half of 2009. Year end average sales price for residential site-built homes was $187,585 down 9.1% from 2008. The median price for 2009 was $169,000 down 8.2% compared to 2008. Homes on 1-5 acres fared a little worse, falling 10.5% compared to 2008.
In the chart below, the blue line is the 2009 average sale price, the green line is 2008, and pink is 2007. You can see that the first-time homebuyer tax credit (which expired at the end of November) weighed down our average price in the fourth quarter. The credit has since been extended to the end of April, 2010 and expanded to include move-up buyers.
New listings in 2009 totaled 9,782 compared to 12,833 a year ago. However, because homes are staying on the market longer or not selling, total listing inventory at the end of 2009 was at 2,606, up 4.7% from December 2008.
New construction sales totaled 561 compared to 804 in 2008, down 30.2%.
You could describe our market in 2009 as "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly." It was GOOD for buyers, with Spokane-area home prices becoming more affordable, particularly for first-timers receiving up to $8000 from Uncle Sam for buying their first home. On the other side of the coin, 2009 was BAD for home sellers, who saw their home's value drop anywhere from 5-15% from the market peak in mid-2007. Lastly, things were UGLY for some realtors, with total sales falling to the lowest level since 1987 (see chart below.) State and local government also felt the pain, with reduced revenues collected from the excise tax on homes sold.
On to 2010! All indicators show that the housing downturn has bottomed nationally and is showing signs of positive growth. Historically, Spokane tends to trail the national trends, following 12-18 months behind. Fortunately, our market has always been conservative -- we did not experience the extreme highs or extreme drops as other markets that had swings (up and down) of 20-40%. Just another reason that Spokane is a great place to live! Contact me when you're ready to make a move.
Source: Spokane Association of Realtors