It's hotter than Tamales and I don't like it

I am now looking at two homes for my clients in Seattle Real Estate price ranges of 380k-$500k, and they both will have mulitple offers. Isn't the real estate market suppose to have a crash, and bust? Well I thought so, with the new home sales numbers for February coming in well below expectations. Now today we had a 13.4% jump in new home sales. A report came out, and the stock market jumped, and I along with other real estate experts am just baffled:-)

So what to do now, do we buy, do we sell, do we hold? Never sell real estate unless you have to is what I was told. They were probably right, do you remember them, they are always right. In Seattle we have a lot of high-tech people and they always know! Do you have those same smart people in Minneapolis, Portland, San Francisco, Cabo San Lucas?

Any way, what really is the smart thing to do with real estate investments, purchases, and sales. Invest smart, buy smart, sell smart. Sounds too easy, well it isn't. Don't get carried away, but buy a lot of real estate properties, maintain good credit, and always be on the look out for a deal. And, always maintain a substanial liquid position, so that over leverage never sneaks up on you.

So the market is hot, the market is cold, it is what it is, and will always will be. That is the real estate game in Seattle or where ever you live.

I made 80k in a LEAP option play back in 1999. And, trust me that was a lot of money to me than, and it is now. I asked a professional investment expert at Salomon Smith Barney. The guy had been in the stocks and bond business for over 20 years. And, he gave me some super smart advice, which I used to minize my risk. Here is what he said:

The bears will make money in a Bear market. The bull's will make money in Bull market, and Pigs get slaughtered. So be smart, and be cautious, don't be a pig!

VS
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

And, I thought I was smart

I recently started to buy the real estate news from the national media. And, it said that real estate bust was about to happen. I mean, how could it not. The boom had to end, and it was time I got off the band wagon, well not exactly. I do think Seattle real estate listings are still going up in my Seattle real estate market. But the northwest multiple listing service broadcasted the following a few weeks ago, and I think the numbers speak for them selves.

So here is the article from the Seattle MLS, called the NWMLS:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 6, 2006
Pending Home Sales for March Eclipse February Totals by 34 Percent
KIRKLAND , Wash. (April 6, 2006) – "Pretty decent traffic" at open house and a brightening picture for inventory helped contribute to an active month of March for home sales in Western Washington.
Brokers reported 10,289 pending sales last month – fewer than the same month a year ago, but significantly more than the previous month, according to the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. That total, which encompasses 17 counties, was down about five percent from twelve months ago when brokers notched 10,841 pending sales. Compared to February, when there were 7,673 pending sales, the volume jumped 34 percent.
"People are taking a bit longer to decide and even with the increase in inventory, there hasn't been a reduction on selling prices," said NWMLS director Dick Beeson, the broker at Windermere Real Estate/Paragon in Tacoma.
Prices system-wide were about 13.7 percent higher than a year ago, with ten of the 17 counties reporting increases of 20 percent or more. Last month's closed sales of single family homes and condominiums had a median selling price of $292,000, eclipsing the year-ago figure of $256,783.
In the four-county Puget Sound region, Snohomish claimed the biggest year-over-year price hike. The selling price for last month's closed sales (including single family homes and condos) was $209,950 -- $52,375 higher than the same time a year ago for a 20.3 percent increase.
King County 's median price jumped more than $40,000 from a year ago, rising to $365,000 from $324,950. For single family homes only (excluding condominiums) the median price for sales that closed last month was $405,000. That's almost $145,000 more than the median sales price of $260,300 for single family homes that sold last month in Pierce County.
Three other counties also reported median sales prices above $300,000 for last month's completed sales of single family homes and condominiums. San Juan County continues to top the list, with last month's closings having a median price of $503,250. Jefferson County's sales had a median price of $315,900 and Snohomish County reported a median price of $309,950.
Brokers credit expanding inventory and attractive financing with fueling activity.
NWMLS members added 12,639 new listings to inventory last month, edging out the year-ago total of 11,808 new listings. The additions include 10,786 single family homes and 1,853 condominiums. With those new listings, the total inventory at month end rose to 23,533 listings. Compared to the same month a year ago, the inventory grew by 15.9 percent.
The largest gains from a year ago are in Thurston County (up 77.5 percent), Grays Harbor County (up 62.5 percent), Pierce County (up 26.7 percent) and Kitsap County (up 22.9 percent). Only four counties have fewer listings than a year ago: Cowlitz, King, Lewis and Kittitas.
"Traffic at open houses has been pretty decent," Beeson remarked. "People are taking a bit longer to decide," he acknowledged, but said well-priced properties are still drawing multiple offers. "All the doom and gloom predicted hasn't arrived," he said. In fact, he believes the abundance of people moving into the area will sustain demand and price appreciation "for some time," but tempers his optimism by noting, "So long as rates stay under 7 percent."
Rates on 30-year mortgages now average 6.54 percent, up from the month-ago average of 6.39 percent, according to HSH Associates, a mortgage information publisher.
Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member brokers, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Based in Kirkland, it currently encompasses more than 2,000 companies with approximately 26,000 sales associates. Together, they serve 17 counties, mostly in western Washington, plus Grant, Kittitas and Okanogan counties in the central part of the state. NWMLS recently added service to Clark County with the opening of an office in Vancouver.
Statistical Summary by Counties:Market Activity Summary for March 2006
PLEASE NOTE: NWMLS is implementing a new field, CDOM, which stands for Cumulative Days on Market, which will depict a more precise representation of the market time for a property. During this transition," Days on Market" figures are deleted from these reports.
March 2006 Single Fam. Homes + Condos
**I am choosing to leave these numbers, even though they don't look nice. If you care to get the report email us by going to our Seattle real estate website called UrbanTango.com
LISTINGS
PENDING SALES
CLOSED SALES
New Listings
Total Active
# Pending Sales
# Closings
Avg. Price
Median Price
King Co.
4655
6359
4106
3219
$445,375
$365,000
Snohomish
2105
3242
1876
1537
$337,955
$309,950
Pierce
2191
4412
1731
1541
$283,455
$259,790
Kitsap
601
1347
461
354
$298,009
$258,700
Mason
157
426
112
90
$223,306
$172,350
Skagit
267
685
208
179
$294,128
$255,725
Grays Harbor
243
676
116
93
$148,013
$136,000
Lewis
144
365
100
92
$167,961
$154,000
Cowlitz
164
370
172
129
$173,173
$159,900
Grant
166
404
107
84
$153,604
$139,400
Thurston
684
1324
525
429
$264,980
$243,500
San Juan
73
236
11
14
$558,561
$503,250
Island
241
634
153
131
$349,875
$299,000
Kittitas
83
273
59
44
$221,728
$194,250
Jefferson
72
280
45
27
$366,272
$315,900
Others
192
653
90
80
$238,627
$235,500
Sub-total
12,038
21,686
9,872
8,043


Okanogan
38
181
37
25
$182,747
$154,500
Whatcom
563
1666
380
353
$299,382
$252,950
MLS TOTAL
12,639
23,533
10,289
8,421
$348,017
$292,000

4-county Puget Sound Region Pending Sales(SFH + Condo combined)(totals include King, Snohomish, Pierce & Kitsap counties)
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
2000
3706
4778
5903
5116
5490
5079
4928
5432
4569
4675
4126
3166
2001
4334
5056
5722
5399
5631
5568
5434
5544
4040
4387
4155
3430
2002
4293
4735
5569
5436
6131
5212
5525
6215
5394
5777
4966
4153
2003
4746
5290
6889
6837
7148
7202
7673
7135
6698
6552
4904
4454
2004
4521
6284
8073
7910
7888
8186
7583
7464
6984
6761
6228
5195
2005
5426
6833
8801
8420
8610
8896
8207
8784
7561
7157
6188
4837
2006
5275
6032
8174

Rumors, Cabo San Lucas and Seattle

I was on a flight back to Seattle yesterday from Cabo San Lucas through Salt Lake City. There were about 20 plus of us, that were coming to Seattle, and not all of us knew each other. So what's the big deal, well here are the Rumors, that Seattle is about to acquire Cabo San Lucas? Ok, just kidding, hot. Spots cities in different countries are not for sale. Well, that is an analogy for sure. But west coast vacationers have been going down to Cabo San Lucas for so many new years, that Cabo is a thriving modern Mexico destination. In fact, Cabo San Lucas real estate maybe as expensive as Seattle real estate. And, in and around the water it is probably more expensive.

I mention the flight, as on the Flight back to Seattle we had a recent movie. The movie had the name Rumor in it, sorry I can't remember the full name. But it had Kevin Costner and Jennifer Aniston. It talked about the Internet enough to get my attention. And than there was also mention of Cabo San Lucas in one of the main aspects of the plot of the movie. If a city makes a movie, especially a recent movie, along with San Francisco, Internet, it's hot. The movie makers make popular trendy suggestions in all of their scenes. So to me Cabo is hot, it's made the movies!

So what about the fake rumor and Cabo being acquired by Seattle? Well, let's see, 20 people going to Cabo in a non-Spring break, non busy tourist season, would mean that we are going down there. If we are going down there, we are also buying real estate. That's just my guess, we smart traveler types, like to buy real estate:-). So if you buy real estate in Cabo San Lucas, and you live in Seattle. Some might make the case that Seattle is acquiring Cabo San Lucas. Well, we are but not really. We are too few and too far. I would say that the west coast vacation hot spot is definitly Cabo, and Cabo San Lucas is growing like hot cakes. And, this little Seattle Real Estate Agent has found a vacation hot spot!

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.