Leavenworth Real Estate

Leavenworth Real Estate – First Quarter 2009 : Market Update

Leavenworth Home Sales Drop 60%!

Leavenworth Home Prices Plateau!

Leavenworth Home Prices Up 7%!

Leavenworth Real Estate Investments Trounce Wall Street!  

Is your glass half full? Photo by Jesie Hart

It appears as though the trends we have been seeing for the last year or so, are continuing. The number of homes selling in Leavenworth is down (dramatically this quarter), but prices are holding steady.  The average Leavenworth home price is actually down 2% (to $413,000 from $420,000) but median prices in Leavenworth are up 7% (to $420,000 from $390,000).

This chart has been replaced. Please see my update, posted below.

The sales prices are certainly coming at bigger discounts compared to the list prices. Last year the sales prices were 95% of list, this year they have dropped to 91%. (And this is off the most recent list price, not the original list price, or the list price that the first agent had listed the home for.)  I think this says something about the pervasive overpricing in the Leavenworth area. In Wenatchee and East Wenatchee prices are staying at 97% of list prices and at 96% in Cashmere.

I spoke with an escrow agent in Leavenworth about the market and she said she currently only has 1 pending sale scheduled to close in April. (This includes condos and land sales as well.) Discussing pricing with her – while we haven’t seen any reductions in selling prices, it sure looks like we will need to, if sellers want to sell their houses.

Update May 4 , 2009

Thanks to Mark who pointed out a few errors in my chart and asked some great questions. Here is the real chart that should have been included.

Leavenworth Real Estate 2009

Mark was surprised to see the dip in 2007. Remember this is just for the 1st Quarter. By the time 2007 was over, both median and average home prices in Leavenworth had gone up 18% over 2006.

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Required Disclaimer

NOTE: This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by the North Central Washington Association of Realtors or its Multiple Listing Service. Neither the Association nor its MLS guarantees or are in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the Market.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 10:19 am and is filed under Home Buyers, Home Sellers, Real estate market. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. Chelan Real Estate - Al Lorenz said at April 23rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm

   I like the choice of headlines. Everything depends on how you look at it. My favorite choices are the last two, Leavenworth Home Prices Up 7%!
   Leavenworth Real Estate Investments Trounce Wall Street!

2. Geordie Romer said at April 24th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

   Thanks Al. I often think of how articles in the Wenatchee World or other mainstream media get framed by the headlines, which are often written by someone other than the author. The truth is usually a little more complex than the headline.

3. Leavenworth - No Swine Flu in Our Market | Icicle Creek Real Estate said at May 1st, 2009 at 12:09 pm

   [...] is my latest Leavenworth real estate report from the 1st quarter of 2009. Here is a similar report from Al Lorenz at the North Central [...]

4. Geordie Romer said at May 4th, 2009 at 5:16 pm

   Mark wrote me an email:

   Hey, Geordie! Hope you are well. Sounds like a lot of activity recently … great news.

   Had a quick question about your graph at http://iciclecreekrealestate.com/2009/04/05/leavenworth-real-estate-first-quarter-2009-market-update/

   The text says: “The average Leavenworth home price is actually down 2% (to $413,000 from $420,000) but median prices in Leavenworth are up 7% (to $420,000 from $390,000).”

   But the graph shows the median declining and the average increasing?

   I’m thinking the key takeaway here is that home sales prices in the Leavenworth area are generally flat year over year from 2008 to 2009?

   In thinking about our place we bought in Ponderosa in March 2007 … the data shows 2007 as having the lowest median (or average, if the two are reversed) over the past five years. And it shows 2006 as being much higher. But our experience, as you may remember, was that very similar cabins built by the same builder were selling for $100K less in 2006 than we bought ours for in 2007, opposite from the trend shown in the graph?

   Anyway, I’m just being curious. 

   Probably like many people, we recently decided to refinance. I’m waiting to hear the results of the appraisal, and hoping it does not come in lower (at least, not too much lower) than our purchase price … because we put 20% down when we purchased, and I have no interest in paying PMI.

   Hope all is well with you and Allyson. By the way, I like the Quarterly updates on your blog, and REALLY like the “Sold Homes “ updates … hope you keep doing those!

   Best,
   - Mark

5. Geordie Romer said at May 4th, 2009 at 5:44 pm

   Mark -

   I updated my post. The graph was mislabeled and I had transposed a number, so not all the data was correct.

   Thanks for reading my posts with such a keen eye.

   Geordie

6. Mark said at May 6th, 2009 at 8:47 pm

   Thanks, Geordie. I appreciate all of the great information you continually post in your blog about the Leavenworth real estate market!!

   - Mark

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