Downsizing Your Current Living Arrangement

Downsizing is an often considered Alternative when your Current Home is Too Large...

 It is estimated that over 15% of the population in the U.S. are over 65 years of age.  With one of the most common fears of seniors being their money will run out early, it is understandable that downsizing may be strategy to meet their goals.

Once the kids are grown, have careers, relationships and get a place of their own, parents find they may not need their "big" home like they did before.  In other situations, their lifestyle might have changed, and the house just doesn't "fit" anymore.

The benefits of a smaller home can include the following:
•    Easier to maintain
•    Lower utilities
•    Lower property taxes
•    Lower insurance
•    More convenient location
•    Single level
•    Possibly more energy efficient
•    Possibly lower maintenance

Like any other big change in life, it is recommended that a person should take their time to consider the possible alternatives and outcomes.  Are they going to stay in the same area?  What type of property would suit their needs for the future?

The tax-free exclusion allows a homeowner to take up to $250,000 of gain for single taxpayers and up to $500,000 for married taxpayers.  Part or all of this could be used to generate income for retirement.  Other uses for the equity could include paying off other debt, taking the trip of a lifetime or making a special gift.

There will be expenses involved in selling a home as well as the purchase of a new home.  These will lower the amount of net proceeds you'll have to invest in the new home.

Homeowners should consult their tax professionals to see how this applies to their situation.  Please contact me if you have any questions about what your home is worth or how long it might take to sell it.  Other things that could be of value are our Homeowners Tax Guide or Sellers Guide.

Popular search pages we've already set up on our website include: 55+ Active Adult Communities in Vancouver WA; and Condos for sale in Vancouver WA.

Another page of interest is Single-Level Ranch Homes for sale in Vancouver WA.

Real Estate Sales Clark County WA - August 2019

Home Sales Pop for Clark County WA in August 2019.

This month we see the strongest posting for the Units-Sold measure in the past 2 years. Inventory is still low, although prices did not move any higher at this tem. Here are the highlights for this month: 

• Average-Sales Price eased just a few dollars to $408,947, with the 12-month/long-term trend line up 4.05% year-over-year;  with the 3-Month Moving Average up 2.32% from this time last year; 
   
• The Inventory for Resale Real Estate remained unchanged at a low 2.2 Months of Supply;
   
• Approximately 711 Resale Properties closed in the month, which is about 15 more (2.2%) homes than in 2018; and 26 more than last month;
   
• REO/Bank Owned property sales were 5 units (0.7% of total); down from 7 (1.0%) in 2018; 
   
• Short Sale /Pre-Foreclosure property sales were 6 units (0.9% of total); down from 9 (1.3%) in 2018.

Home Mortgage interest rates the month-end, 30-year-fixed loan interest rate (nationwide average) fell again to 3.62% (Down from 3.77% last month) according to Freddie Mac; compared to 4.55% for August 2018. The current rate level is now very close to the 3.35% all-time low!

The custom chart for Unit-Volume (number of properties sold) next up illustrate the short term (in Red) and long term (12-month moving average in Blue) trends: 

Clark County Home Sales - Units Sold Trend August 2019

Strong results this summer has caused the  Short-term trend line to move up higher than last year; and strong enough so that the Long Term line is clearly showing an upward turn. 

The Average Home Sales Price trend-chart, up next, shows results in both short-term and long-term: 

Clark County Home Sales - Average Sales Price Trend August 2019

If the past is any indication, at this point in the year we are at the high point; which is still showing an increase over last year but the rate of increased has slowed substantially compared to earlier in this long-term market upswing.  Mortgage loan interest rates declining combined with low Inventory, will keep pressure on sales prices.
 
The Average (using 3 months) sales price for Clark County is now $408,947; which is an increase of approximately $9,279 from this time last year.

The final charts come from RMLS and show:

Clark County Home Sales Inventory
& Days on Market - August 2019

New Listings declined from last month, with Pending Sales dipping slightly and Closed Sales both moving up slightly; with the level of Inventory remaining unchanged. 

The second graph shows both Average List and Sales Prices chugging along about the same as the past couple of months.

Finally, both the Average Days on Market and Median Days on the Market moved up moderately.

We've also made available the recent RMLS published report on the Clark County real estate scene, and you can find it here: RMLS Market Action Report on our main website.

Thank you for visiting our Home Sales report for Clark County WA; and please let us know if you have any questions or need help with your home or condo!
 

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PS - The home sales market is changing, prices are softer with loan costs presently decreasing, keeping this an excellent time to List and Sell Your Home with Our Team; or, at least find out what your property is worth!  We offer a no-cost, no-obligation Clark County WA Home Valuation, and invite you to try it out!

PPS - Looking to buy a house reasonably soon?  Interest rates have been falling and are still at historically low rates.  You are invited to visit our web-page for Clark County WA Homes For Sale where it is Quite Easy to search by City, Neighborhood or by Category, with homes and real estate listings from the entire RMLS.  Sign-up Not Required!  The property and home listings shown are provided via many updates each day, and you will be e-mailed hourly with any new matches once you've signed up for a home search.

We also have the MLS Listings for these great towns in Clark County:  Battle Ground WA Real Estate For Sale | Brush Prairie WA Homes For Sale | Camas WA Homes for Sale | Hockinson WA Homes For Sale | La Center WA Homes for sale | Ridgefield WA Homes for sale | Real Estate for sale in Vancouver Washington | Washougal WA Real Estate | Yacolt WA Homes For Sale | Amboy WA Homes For Sale

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The information and charts in this Clark County WA real estate update (prepared by Vancouver WA Home Sales Broker, John Slocum, CRS, SFR, our resident statistician) are based on home sales recorded in the Clark County WA 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 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 and compiled.  The data and reports are deemed reliable but not guaranteed.