Leavenworth Real Estate

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Hog Loppet 2011

We here at Icicle Creek Homes are once again pleased to announce that we are the title sponsor of the 2011 Hog Loppet.   Hog Loppet is an annual ski tour from Mission Ridge to Blewett Pass organized by the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. The tour is 30 kilometers and is not a race but a great day out on the snow experiencing the mountains and the joy of Nordic skiing.

 

Like last year, there will be an after-party at the Leavenworth Festhalle with burgers, beer and music by Leavenworth’s own Chumstick Liberation Front.

This year’s Hog Loppet is February 26th. Registration is online and early registration is open until February 8th.

Outdoor recreation is so important to us and our clients and friends we felt that Hog Loppet was a really good match for us and we are proud to be the title sponsor for 2011.  We first sponsored the tour in 2010 and are quite proud to be associated with it.

Leavenworth Real Estate 2010 Year End Review

I feel like I did pretty darned good job with my predictions last year for the Leavenworth real estate market.

Here’s what I said at the end of 2009.

• I would guess prices will continue to muddle along. Some neighborhoods will see price drops and others won’t. (See chart below.)
• Condo inventory will clear out.  I would guess that foreclosure or auctions will be part of this equation.(In early 2009 the Cascade Crest Condossold as short sales and later in the year the Haus Wunderbar project was foreclosed upon. We’ll do a full condo report soon.)
• The overall number of foreclosures and short sales will remain low. (Click here to see the 2010 Leavenworth Foreclosure Report.)
• Demand and prices for premium locations (waterfront properties) will remain strong.

 

 How did the Leavenworth real estate market fare in 2010?

• Average and median prices were down from 2009, about 5-6%.
• Average and median prices are down 11-12% from the peak. (Compared to Seattle Prices which are 25% below peak.)
• Number of sales is up 35%, but still far fewer than years past

 

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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 Real Estate Update: Q4 2010

“How’s the Leavenworth real estate market doing these days?”

That seems to be a question we get all the time.

We’ll do our best to answer that question in the next few posts.

There are two ways to measure the health of the market. Home prices is certainly one of the factors we look at. The chart below measures the average and median sales prices of homes in the Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee area over the past 6 years during the fourth quarter of the year. (October through the end of December.)

As you can see, prices have come up this year (for the 4th quarter) compared to last year, but they still really aren’t at “peak” pricing either. The average home price this quarter in Leavenworth was up to $401,000 while the median price was up to $327,000.  (Please note that these are only 4th quarter numbers, we’ll follow up shortly with a year end review to look at the entire year.)

The second part of the question is about the number of sales. As you can see by the chart below, less than half the number of home sold this quarter as sold in 2006. To me, this number is probably more important than the sales prices. I don’t expect we will we see a long term increase in prices until the number of sales increases dramatically. Prices will go up when demand outpaces supply and currently there is still lots of supply.

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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.

How Long is Your Driveway?

When shopping for a home in Leavenworth a lot of folks see  a house they like but then mention that they were hoping to find a house a little further away from the road.  Understandably, home buyers are hoping for peace and quiet and a little privacy.

However, buying a house that is further from the road means having a longer driveway. This means increased costs for paving or laying gravel during the construction. It also means more work to plow or snowblow when winter hits.

As the owner of a longer driveway, I was inspired to share this post after the 15 inches of snow that fell on the weekend of December 11, 2010.

 

 

If you want to buy a house in Leavenworth or Lake Wenatchee that is a little further from the road, you might want to consider how much time it will take you to to keep the driveway clear or how much money it will cost to pay someone else to plow it for you.

(Unfortunately for those searching for a Leavenworth home, driveway length is not a searchable field in our real estate search program.)

Leavenworth Ski Season 2010 – 2011

Winter in Leavenworth means ski season (at least it does at our house!)

Since so many of our friends and clients are skiers too, here’s a update of what’s open so far:

Lake Wenatchee State Park(from Rick Halstead, Park Manager) 

We’re not quite there yet.  Tonight’s forecasted dump should give us enough to work with to grade and create a good trail base.  The weather in the following week will determine if we can have some fully groomed trails by next weekend.  In the meantime skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding is available, but trails are not maintained and no permits are required.

This winter there will be temporary closures of ski trails within the North and South State Park trail system as we continue work removing potentially hazardous trees within the campgrounds.  This work is being done over snow to protect vegetation and soils.  Early in the season we anticipate closure of the all North Park trails for two or three weeks.  Once work is completed in that area trails will reopen.  In the South Park, 1.3 miles of trail (out of 20 total miles) will be closed throughout the season.  In addition, all vehicle access to the South State Park will be closed for several days, mid-week only, later in the season when work will be occurring across the roadway. We will provide updates as work proceeds.

 With adequate snowpack, we will compensate for these trail closures with additional grooming of Chiwawa See & Ski and lower Nason Ridge, both of which offer a full skate lane. 

Here’s a link to a weather station located within the park – temperature, precipitation, snow depth, and 24-hour snow record updated hourly: 

 http://www.nwac.us/weatherdata/lakewenatchee/now/

**Call the park with your email address if you would like to be included on a daily emailed trail report!   (509) 763-3101  **

 Current Conditions 12/11/2010:  10” snow accumulation.  Big dump forecast next 24 hours, followed by warmer temps and rain on Sunday.  Not enough snow for any trail grooming.  If this storm brings us another 6-8” we will be grading and track-packing trails this week.  No SnoPark permits are required at this time, however, we anticipate requiring SnoPark permits effective Saturday, December 18.    

Leavenworth Winter Sports Club

• Ski Hill and Icicle River trails are groomed and open
• Waterfront Park and the Leavenworth Golf Course still need more snow
• The Tubing hill at Ski Hill is open, but Ski Jumping is not

Full conditions report at : http://www.skileavenworth.com/conditions

Stevens Pass Nordic

Nordic skiing is set to open December 18th 2010. Conditions can be found here: http://www.stevenspass.com/Stevens/conditions-nordic.aspx

Stevens Pass Ski Area

Skiing has been going strong at Stevens for a little while now. As of today, all lifts are open and there is a 45″ base. The groomer’s report is here and you can sign up to get a morning update on conditions by email if you like: http://www.stevenspass.com/Stevens/lifts-grooming.aspx

Hope to see you out and about on the trails this winter!