Leavenworth Real Estate

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Lake Wenatchee State Park Emergency Closure

Thanks to www.LakeWenatcheeInfo.com for the heads up.

Effective late afternoon Wednesday, August 25th, Lake Wenatchee State Park is closed to camping and day use.  This was deemed necessary to accommodate a team of arborists currently in the park trying to asses the risk to public safety from root-rot disease which is causing trees to fall.  At this time the the boat launch is open. Further information and any change in status will be reported when received.

We’ll try and see if we can’t get more info from our friends at the park.

UPDATED 8/27/10

Crazy couple days here.  I’m out with arbor crews and pathologist right now trying to complete assessment in Day Use.  Note there’s already a change – the day use as of a couple hours ago is completely closed, including the boat ramp.  I am fairly confident we’ll reopen the boat launch and probably the rest of the day use tomorrow (Friday) , but that’s not confirmed.  -

Rick Halstead, Park Ranger

See Attached Press Release from Washington State Parks

UPDATED  8/30/10

Day use re-opens

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/aug/30/lake-wenatchee-park-partially-re-opened/

Working Harder to Sell Your Leavenworth Home

• How do you “get found” on Google or Bing?
• What searches are home buyers using online?
• What is the “long tail” and how does it affect real estate?
• What is Google doing today that they didn’t last month?

I like to think that Allyson and I have embraced real estate kaizen – a culture of experimentation leading to continuous improvement. You might not see all the experiments we try – some of them fail. But know that we are  ALWAYS trying to do things a little better and always looking trying to find a way to build a better mousetrap. 

Leavenworth Home Prices Spring 2010

Reporting about Leavenworth home prices usually starts with a great image of a half filled cup.  It’s rarely a simple story and there is both good news and bad depending on whether you are buying or selling a home.

Let’s start with a chart comparing Q2 of 2010 to previous years.

• The number of sales this quarter was up 50% from last year’s dismal numbers.
• The number of sales is still 50% of 2006’s stellar numbers
• Home prices have remained fairly flat over the past few years.

What numbers are missing from this chart?

• The number of pending sales (contracts agreed to) is nearly identical from 2009 to 2010. This may not be a good sign for the rest of summer.
• We have a record number of homes on the market in Leavenworth. Buyers have more choices than ever before. On July 9th, 2010 we reached the 200 homes threshold.

As I mentioned over on our Facebook page, I would rather be a buyer than a seller in the Leavenworth market. On the other hand I’d rather be selling a home in Leavenworth than trying to sell one in Cleveland, Detroit, Las Vegas or Phoenix.

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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.

David asks about Leavenworth condos under $275,000

In response to my most recent post about the Leavenworth real estate market, David asks:

What do you think of Leavenworth condos under 275K? It seems to me there are an awful lot of those for sale now. Some of the Ski Blick are under 275, there are 3 Alpine condos, etc.

Thanks for the great question David.

The Leavenworth condo market isn’t a monolithic group. It is made of many sub-sets and buyers usually aren’t willing to move from one sub-set to another. For example, if you want a condo at the Kahler Glen golf course you wouldn’t trade for one in town, just because the price is less.

Currently we have 25 condos for sale under $275,000 in the Leavenworth area.

6 condos are for sale at the Kahler Glen Golf and Ski Resort near Lake Wenatchee.

6 Condos are for sale at Ski Blick on Titus Road. (cannot be used as vacation rentals.)

5 of the condos are in other developments that cannot be used as vacation rentals.

3 are at 475 Alpine Place (of the 6 total units in that development)

2 are at 575 Alpine Place

3 are at other developments that can be rented as vacation rentals

The easiest groups are Kahler Glen vs Leavenworth (6 and 19) or vacation rental vs non-vacation rental (14 vs 11) or best yet a combination of all 3.

Kahler Glen 6

Leavenworth non-vacation rental 11

Leavenworth vacation rental 8

Now let’s look at which 19 condos have sold in Leavenworth in the last 12 months:

5 at Kahler Glen

6 at Cascade Crest (1107 Front Street)

2 at 525 Alpine Place

2 at Ski Blick

4 non-vacation rental

If we break it down into our 3 main categories as before:

Kahler Glen 5

Leavenworth non-vacation rental 6

Leavenworth vacation rental 8

Are condos in Leavenworth under $275,000 in a buyers market?

You bet, but some are more than others:

Kahler Glen: 14 months of supply

Leavenworth non-vacation rental: 22 months of supply

Leavenworth vacation rental: 12 months of supply

What about condo prices?

Average SELLING price of Kahler Glen Condo: $266,000

Average SELLING price of Leavenworth non-vacation rental: $174,000

Average SELLING price of Leavenworth vacation rental condo: $228,000

What do you think is the best value in the Leavenworth condo market today? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

(Want to look at current condos for sale? Click here Leavenworth Condos for Sale )

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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.

Leavenworth Neighborhoods: Buyer’s or Seller’s Market?

With a record number of homes for sale in Leavenworth, we generally are telling folks it’s not the best time to put your house on the market.  The corollary of that, of course, is that it is a great time to be a buyer.

But even our small market in Leavenworth is made of a number of different sub-markets and neighborhoods and while we may have an oversupply of condos at Kahler Glen, properties for sale on Lake Wenatchee are pretty rare.

With that in mind, we created a chart to help consumers sort this out:

Chart: Is Leavenworth a Buyer’s Market or a Seller’s Market?:

What do you think? Does this represent the number of real estate signs you’re seeing around town?