Clark County WA Real Estate Market Update for January 2015

Clark County's January 2015 Real Estate Results Come in Strong!

With mild winter weather, and low interest rates for home loans, real estate in Clark County WA broke out early from the typical seasonal slowdown to post strong gains in the number of resale properties sold. Here are the high-points for this month:

• Approximately 346 Resale Homes were sold in January, which is about 51 (17.3%) more homes than had sold in January 2014.
   
• The Price Trend Lines show the 3-Month Moving Average with its typical Seasonal Dip, while the 12-Month Moving Average is showing a steady increase.
   
• Average Home Sale-Prices Were Up strongly, with the 3-Month Moving Average up 9.68% over the prior year; and the 12-Month Moving Average went up 9.13% from the year prior.
   
• Short Sale /Pre-Foreclosure property sales were 23 units (6.65% of total); vs 40 in January 2014.
  
  
• REO/Bank Owned property sales were 37 units (10.69% of total);  vs 54 in January 2014. 
   

Next up in our Clark County Report will be our Custom Real Estate Market Analysis Charts!  The first chart displays the Number of Resale Homes Sold (Excluding New Construction).  We are using the simple technique of statistical smoothing to show a short term trend line illustrating the 3-month Moving Average; and the longer term trend line representing the 12-month Moving Average. 

Clark County WA Resale Home Sales - Units Sold Trend January 2015

Even though we are in the typical slower season of the year, the number of properties sold is much higher than at the same time last year.  We will be on alert to see if this trend continues. 

Next in line is the display for the action on Home Prices in for January 2015.

Clark County WA Resale Home Sales - Average Sales Price Trend

For this major component of the overall Clark County real estate market, Resale Home Inventory is at 2.2 Months, indicating an extreme "Seller's Market! (A more "Normal" Inventory level is considered to by Six (6) Months of Supply)  Thus, there is still continued support for the current, if not increasing price-level for homes.   

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

Clark County Home Sales Inventory & Days on Market Trends

In our opinion it seems clear that the strength in the local real estate market is continuing into 2015; and will likey continue the same positive trends, at least in the near term
 

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PS - Please visit the Home Search page for Clark County WA on our website, where it is Easy to search by Neighborhood or by Category, with property and real estate listings from the entire RMLS.  Sign-up Not Required!

PPS -2015 will be a big year for the Clark County Washington real estate market.  Don't delay with your Home Selling or Buying Plans - Call Us Soon!

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The charts in this report (prepared by John Slocum Realtor®, our resident statistician) are based on home sales posted in the Clark County 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 Vancouver WA's real estate market.

Disclaimer: as with any real estate statistical reports, we endeavor to provide the best representation at the time the data was acquired.  The data and reports are deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Condos in Vancouver WA Score Big in 2014!

 Condos in Vancouver's Real Estate Market Roared to Life in 2014, with Increases in Average Sales Price and Units Sold.

I love Selling Condos in the Vancouver WA Condo Market (we count Attached homes + Condos), although this is a smaller but important subset of the overall local real estate market, coming in at 14.14% of the total units sold in 2014 (8.5% in 2013).  We've finally seen our "Recovery Year" for Condos with these highlights to report:

• Values for Vancouver WA Condos moved strongly upward by the end of the year, with the 3-Month Moving Average closing + 34.01% over 2013; and the 12-Month Moving Average closed + 29.15% - Huge gains either way you look at it!
   
• 2014's  Price Trend for the 3-Month Moving Average showed great strength through the peak Spring and Summer seasons, then dropped in the Fall; and the 12-Month Moving Average chugged along with Strong Upward movement.
    
• Per RMLS 564 Resale Condos were sold in 2014, and that adds up to 197 (53.68%) more condos sold than in 2013.
   
• Bank Owned/REO Condo sales were 78 units (13.82% of total); up from 72 (22%) in 2013.  This is a similar result I see when compared with the other cities in Clark County.
   
• Pre-Foreclosure/Short Sale Condo sales were 33 units (5.85% of total); which is much better than the 84 (26.2%) closed in 2013.

Now for my custom Condo Charts!  This first chart shows the number of Resale Condos 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.  We use this modest "smoothing" technique, as the Condo Market in Vancouver is considered small from a statistical point of view, and the monthly numbers jump quite wildly - a behavior we try to tame to better allow the true tends to be visible.

Vancouver WA Condo Sales - Units Sold Trend 2014

Vancouver Condos are included in our recent overall Market Report for Vancouver WA Real Estate this trend line looks somewhat unique - again, this is owing to the relatively small number of units active and sold each month.  To be sure, the 12 month trend-line shows clearly that condo sales have been improving month-over-month for the past 2.5 years or so.

The following chart illustrates the results for Average Condo Prices, with the 3-month moving average line (in red) jumping around quite a bit. This is where the 12-month line (in blue) is superior in defining the underlying trend taking place for any point in time in the market.  In my opinion we've seen the major "bottom" for prices. 

Vancouver WA Condo Sales - Average Sales Price Trend

I am receiving many calls and inquiries so far this year from customers that want to:

• Relocate to Vancouver and purchase a Condo;
• Right-size (fka down-size) to a Condo;
• Live in Downtown Vancouver or, at Vancouver's Waterfront;
• Move to Vancouver and escape the high personal Income Taxes from their home state 

Whatever the reason for looking at Condos in Vancouver (or Selling one), I'm glad to be of assistance!

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PS - Visit our Main Vancouver WA Condos For Sale page at our website, where we have made it Easy to search Condos by Neighborhood, with condo listings from the entire RMLS.  Sign-up Not Required!

Here are some of our popular Condo Pages:

• Waterfront Condos in Vancouver WA

• Downtown Condos in Vancouver WA

• Fairway Village Condos Vancouver WA

• Condos for sale in Fishers Landing, Vancouver WA

PPS - Don't delay with your Condo Selling or Buying Plans - Call Us Soon!

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The charts in this report (prepared by Vancouver WA Realtor® John Slocum, our resident statistician) are based on condo sales recorded in the Vancouver MLS system (RMLS), excluding sales of newly constructed condos; 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 Vancouver's Condo 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.