When the housing bubble burst in 2008 it seemed that everyone was in a panic and that their homes would be worth nothing and it was possible that a huge segment of homes owners were going to be faced with foreclosure and new buyers would be faced with high interest rates. Lets fast forward to January 2012.

People in the fall of 2011 were pleasantly surprised by the availability of home mortgages and historically low interest rates. 15 year loans were as low as 3.15% and FHA 30 year mortgages were as low as 3.75 percent.

The Tri-Cities showed fantastic resiliency in the fact that our area showed stable home prices and a steady number of new home building permits. For 2011 there were 1335 permits issued compared to 1550 for 2010. The Homebuilders Association calls that "sustainable".

The cool part was the Tri-Cities sold just about 2865 homes which is an average year. In 2011 there were only 355 foreclosures compared to 750 in 2010. The average sales price of a home also went up from $205,000 in 2010 to $207,000 in 2011.

Realtors are forecasting that home prices will increase 3 to 5% in 2012 which means that the Tri-Cities is a healthy real estate market.

Here are the housing statistics from the Tri Cities Association Of Realtors

DateTotal Number Active
Residential Listings
Total SoldAverage Sold PriceMedian Sold PriceUnder Contract
2011
Jan954161194.4175223
Feb979170201.8179279
Mar1021243193.8169.5312
Apr1128255192.5171.0314
May1202253204.3177.2307
Jun1238288203.2177.1343
Jul1383275209.3185.0285
Aug1388257203.4179.9293
Sep1306259200.0179.1295
Oct1234232201.0180.0299
Nov1170229181.1167.0237


Check back next week for Bear's Real Estate Blog. And if you have a real estate question you can email me at barrylong@townsquaremedia.com I do hold a Washington Real Estate License and I am affiliated with Everstar Realty in Kennewick.

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