Home Sales Market Report for Battle Ground WA - 2013 Recap

Good Improvement in Battle Ground's Real Estate Market for 2013; Home Prices Increased; Resale Unit Volume also Increased

Results for real estate sales in Battle Ground WA improved nicely in 2013 with these highlights:

• Property Values Were Up at year end, with the 3-Month Moving Average up 3.5% over 2012; and the 12-Month Moving Average went up 8.2%
   
• End of Year Price Trend was slightly Up for the 3-Month Moving Average and also Trending Up for the 12-Month Moving Average
   
• The Absorption Rate was: 111 Days for Battle Ground (vs. 115 Days for Clark County) - Very much in the "Seller's Market" Range.
   
• Approx. 430 Resale Homes were sold in 2013, which is 11 (2.6%) more homes than in 2012.
   
• Bank Owned / REO property sales were 42 properties (9.8% of total); down from 70 (16.7%) in 2012.  This is consistent with the other areas in Clark County.
   
• Short Sale  property sales were 69 units (16.0% of total); down from 94 (22.4%) in 2012.

As reported last month's Real Estate Update  Autumn is traditionally slower for real estate sales, and combined this year with the economic uncertainty by the shut-down of the US government, caused  Clark County and Vancouver to see the first significant retreat from rising prices in this phase of the economic cycle.  Battle Ground was affected by this to some extent however, being a smaller market, statistically speaking, the impact was not as readily measurable.

Before we get to Battle Ground's Charts - Battle Ground is a relatively small town and thus, the graph-lines won't look that Smooth when compared to the same charts for Vancouver or Clark County; as there can be a wide variability in Units Sold or Average Price from month to month.  Therefore, when we add the 12-month moving average line for the long-term trend, we obtain a reasonable idea as to the market's direction.

This first chart shows the number of Resale Homes Sold (Excludes New Construction), with a short term trend line equaling the 3-month Moving Average; and the longer term trend line equaling the 12-month Moving Average.

Battle Ground WA Resale Home Sales - Units Sold Trend 2013

With Battle Ground only about 10% of Clark County, this trend line seems to have much variability.  However, the long-term trend line more reliably shows steady and positive improvement for the past 2 years.

Next we'll look at the current action on Average Home Sale Prices, with this next chart showing up-and-down movement through the year, and ending up about $9,269 for the 3-month line. The 12-month line move up steadily, increasing about $20,485 by end of the year. 

Also, unlike Clark County we also have the 3 month Average Price line still above the 12-month line, which indicates prices are likely still on their way upwards.

Battle Ground WA Resale Home Sales - Average Sales Price Trend

The final series of chats below show the month-by-month action for Unit Sales, Average & Median Prices; and Days on Market:

Battle Ground Home Sales Inventory & Days on Market Trends

These final 3 charts clearly show how vigorous the market was in the summer of 2013, with higher Property-Unit Volume, higher Average Prices; and fewer Days on the Market!  Also of note is the Steep Decline in New Listings at the end of the Year.  Home prices for Battle Ground may rise quickly again if the supply of homes for sale becomes reduced any further.

If 2014 is going to behave in a fashion similar to 2013, the first quarter of the year will be the time for Sellers to get their homes ready to sell; and for Buyers the best bargains will be right now!

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PS - Visit our Real Estate for sale Search for Battle Ground on our website, where we have made it Easy to search by Category or Neighborhood, with real estate listings from the entire RMLS.  Sign-up Not Required!

PPS - the buzz with our team and at the RE/MAX office is that 2014 is starting out Very Strongly.  Don't delay with your Home Selling or Buying Plans - Call Us Soon!

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The charts in this report (prepared by Realtor® John Slocum, our resident statistician) are based on home sales recorded in the Battle Ground MLS system (RMLS), excluding sales of mobile home; and shows the purchase activity since 2009; charting the 3 month Moving average number of sales, and the 12 month Moving average.  This "smoothing" of the trend-data helps illustrate the short-term and longer term trends in Battle Ground and Clark County's real estate market.

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.