Kitsap Real Estate Blog

Bad real estate news (for owners and sellers) continues to pour in from markets around the country. In San Diego, home builders are auctioning off tracts of new homes at 50% of their retail price. In Detroit auctioneers hold auctions…and nobody shows up! With the implosion of the American automobile industry Michigan is losing population.

So, what is the implication for Kitsap real estate and the state within which it is located? Here are some real estate facts recently issued by the Washington State Association of Realtors:

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LOW FORECLOSURE RATE

Foreclosure rates today are the same as they were ten years ago. Fewer than one percent of mortgages end in default in Washington state. As of mid-June, adjustable rate loans represented 20 percent of loans nationally, but just 6 percent of home loans in Washington.

STRONG MARKET
Home appreciation in Washington continues to out-perform the rest of nation with regular price increases every quarter since the spring of 1995. Real estate has been, and will continue to be, stable long-term investments.

STABLE INVENTORY

The key to stability in the residential real estate market is balance – a six month supply of homes available on the market at any given time.

WHY WASHINGTON IS DIFFERENT

The home market is not keeping pace with the growth of the state’s population. The state’s population is projected to increase by nearly one million over the present decade and reach 6.8 million residents by 2010. Most growth occurs from within the state – not new residents relocating from other states.”

Buyers need not fear plummeting values if they buy today. Investors must move cautiously in the new market reality but opportunities abound for well constructed real estate investing.