Sunday, January 15, 2012

Real Estate Market Statistics for Clark County WA December 2011

Well Performing Home Sales in Vancouver WA and Clark County WA for December 2011

With 2011 coming to a close, Home Sales in Vancouver WA and Clark County beat out November 2011 numbers and 2010 total-year's results, with Closed Volume moving up to 382 units.  However, the 3-month rolling average sales price dropped to another low as very few higher-end homes saw sales action.  Pending Sales were off slightly as well - at 360 units (402 the month before).  With the 4th Quarter sales volume coming in stronger that last year, we clearly beat last years sales level by 136 units: 4,847 sold in 2011 vs. 4,711 sold in 2010.

The information charted below is based on home sales entered into the Vancouver MLS system (RMLS), and exclude sales of mobile homes.

The Chart Below (prepared by John Slocum, our resident statistician) shows the purchase activity since 2009; charting the 3 month rolling average number of sales, and the 12 month rolling average.  This simple "smoothing" of the data better helps illiustrate the short-term and longer term trends in the Clark Conuty homes / real estate market.
Vancouver WA and Clark County Home Sales Volume Trends

Currently, the Affordability Index for real estate and Homes in Vancouver WA is at a major high for this generation; and with continued low interest rates and lower price levels, this index has improved even more!  Thus, our outlook for home buyers is Very Positive in 2012.

The next chart below shows the Average home sales price trends (3 month and 12 month) for the same time period.  As you can see, with the extended higher level of purchasing activity we are clearly seeing support for home sales prices, with the outlook as "Firming up."
Vancouver WA Home Sales Price Trends

Comparing the 3-month moving average for sales price; we have $208,197 for December 2011 vs. $228,461; a net decrease of $20,264 or -8.9%.  The increased level of Distressed properties on the market in 2011 were clearly a strong driver causing the lower prices; combined with the noticeably few luxury home sales (one luxury home sale can move the average up by several thousands of dollars in any particular month).

Finally, the Level of Available Resale Inventory is an important indicator of market health; and we show 5.5 months Clark County-wide; and 4.8 months for the sum of Vancouver zip codes -- a number that is substantially lower than last year.

Charts:  For the enthusiasts that like to examine charts, we have the sales results for the Resold Inventory (excludes new homes) by Community that you may find helpful:

Clark County WA Home Sales Results and Charts
Battle Ground WA Home Sales Results and Charts
Camas WA Home Sales Results and Charts
La Center WA Home Sales Results and Charts
Ridgefield WA Home Sales Results and Charts
Vancouver WA Home Sales Results and Charts
Washougal WA Home Sales Results and Charts

Please let us know if you have any specific questions or comments!

Disclaimer: as with any real estate statistics, we do our best to provide the best representation at the time the data was acquired.  We deem the data and reports reliable but not guaranteed.

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