New Signs of Real Estate Activities 3rd Week of April

With the unseasonal warm weather (yes!) coming our way as we enter into the 3rd week of April, the local real estate also started to warm up to some slow recovery. I have some agent showing activities on some of my listings this week, with one deal under contract. It won't be long before the market heats up. Let's keep the positive thought anyway!

According to recent estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Tri-Cities and Olympia had the highest percentage of growth among the state’s metropolitan areas since the 2000 census. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, the state’s largest metro area, added the most residents in both time periods.

Just came back from my East Washington trip. It's that time of the year we usually get to see all the apple and cherry blossoms along the way. Because of the cold winter we had, lots of them were late on blooming this year. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful sight seeing some blooming apple farms here and there. I never knew apple blossoms had pink and white colors before this trip.

It's Tax Day!

To me, money is like a lot many things walking with its invisible legs. As if it were not bad enough I didn't know where the heck it went , I was given a task to chase it down at a deadline and then got penalized for taking the task . That's Tax Day USA feels like, and that's an understatement!

Back to real estate taxes, a little trivia: Washington’s real estate excise tax is among the nation’s highest. It generates a relatively small stream of revenue for state and local government, about 5 percent of the state general fund (Department of Revenue). Only New Hampshire’s 1.5 percent and Delaware’s 2 percent rates are higher than Washington’s state rate. Thirteen states do not tax real estate transfers at all. And in a number of other states, the tax amounts only to a minor recording fee (National Association of Realtors 2004).

Question:
Can home excise tax paid in Washington state be considered as tax credit or deductible?
Answer:
Excise tax is not sales tax and is not deductible. Sorry.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! It's the Resurrection Sunday and it's raining. We are expecting snow today but it has been raining so far. I'm sure the weather alone stopped many from egg hunting.

I painted over a dozen eggs, not marking the day itself, but remembering in the event it commemorates—the miracle.

March Sales Statistics

March sales statistics are in today. More dooming news for Mason County. Below are the figures in March this year comparing to March last year:

Number of new listings: down 15% (That's actually a good thing. Supply is less.)

Number of pending sale listings: down 19.33%

Closed sale prices: down 32.99%

It's obvious that in Mason County the price down-spin is largely due to the distressed and bank-repo properties, and most of the sold ones are those properties. Hopefully, as the market weeds them out, we will see a healthier market with price pickup.

Truth in Local Real Estate Market

Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth. - Henry David Thoreau

Here is the truth in the local real estate market we have in Feb this year comparing to the same month in 2008:

New listings: 112 vs 165; -9.41%
Pending sale listings: 58 vs 59; -1.69%
Sold listings: 20 vs 38
Sell Prices fell -29.80%

March figures have not been published yet.