The cooler housing market has sent Washington’s economy, once one of the strongest in the nation, on a road to real estate deflation in the majority of markets, but not all. In western Washington, along the I-5 corridor home prices are deflating. While in a few isolated communities on the east side of the state, markets remain somewhat stable.

With one of the strongest statewide economies in the country, Washington is better off than most. In Seattle, homes coming on the market for sale are adding to an over abundance of inventory. A handful of commercial projects downtown have been put on hold or cancelled, further indicating the area’s growth has slowed from the boom.

City	Forecast
Seattle	− 5.7%
Bellingham	− 6.3%
Tacoma	− 6.9%
Spokane	4.4%
Tri-Cities	2.0%
Yakima	4.1%

This chart shows the percentage change this year in real estate prices.   The northern Olympic Peninsula has been one of the strong western markets.   We have increased inventory, and some reduction in average sales price, but still prices have been fairly stable.

Source and full article view:   Housing Predictor

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There was a time (decades), when real estate agents were taught all across the U.S. that the business is all about listings.   Listings, listings, listings.   Agents were told that’s where the money is.   Get listings, because even while you’re on vacation, your homes can be selling and you’ll be making money.

That time is over.   An agent could have many listings, especially in the worse markets, such as Las Vegas, and not make a single dollar.   Some agents have not sold anything this calendar year!

Real estate ownership is still “the thing,” but for agents listings are no longer the ultimate answer to success.   The key to success for agents today is qualified buyers.

Connecting with qualified buyers is the great challenge of the day for real estate agents and for FSBO’s who are trying to sell their own homes. This is where it gets interesting, because few agents and few FSBO’s have a solid understanding of the technology, marketing, and tools necessary to connect with buyers.

We have entered a new age of marketing and the old rules are rapidly fading into the history of “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”   The fascinating thing about the dramatic changes in the way buyers and sellers are connecting is that there has not been a clearly demarcated point in time, nor has there been a definitive event.   It would seem that these powerful changes for the transfer of billions of dollars in real estate has snuck up on us.

I would suggest that “the thing” today is effective marketing, and that is happening most powerfully today right in people’s homes at their computers.   Searching the Internet for real estate anywhere in the country is private, non-confrontational, easy, free, and instantaneous.   Is it really a surprise consumers would move   en masse in this direction?

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Two pieces of news struck me lately as significant news that the Western Washington Real Estate Market of Seattle and all the way through Sequim and Port Angeles is strong, certainly compared to most of the rest of the country.   Here are the stories.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer wrote an article entitled, “When it comes to new jobs, Seattle is the leading cybercity,” dated June 24, 2008.   “The Seattle area added the greatest number of high-tech jobs in 2006, outpacing Boston, San Fransisco and more than 50 other U.S. cities, according to the Cybercities report from the American Electronics Association.” Seattle’s tech wrok force is not 127,700 strong, which makes it the ninth biggest city for tech workers.

The other news with very strong implications for the real estate business is from the “New Project News, Washington State Construction News.”   The publication reports the following construction news:

1. 118 unit Capital Hill area mixed use apartment-retail-office development receives conditional DNS go ahead
2. 42 story mixed use residential-office-retail development slated for 601 Fourth Ave in Seattle
3. 5,000 home unit Yelm residential-commercial development progressing
4. 8-unit residential townhouse project proposed for W. Seattle
5. 134,000 s.f. 6 story N. Westlake Ave-South Lake Union area office retail project gets conditional DNS approval
6. 176 unit N. Seattle area residential senior development progressing
7. 20,200 s.f. Seattle area Magnolia-Interbay area office space change of use and expansion project subject of revised application
8. 4,900 s.f. Isaaquah area commercial office development receives mitigated DNS approval
9. 133 unit 8 story lower Queen Anne area mixed use residential-retail development in early phase
10. 17,300 s.f. Olympia area light-manufacturing addition receives MDNS approval
11. 40 story 366 unit mixed use retail-residential development slated for 1823 Minor Ave. gets conditional DNS approval
12. 12,000 s.f. W. Seattle area mixed use -retail apt development continuing in design review stage
13. 4 story Kirkland arae office-retail project receives DNS approval
14. 4 story Renton area apt office development slated for use by Veterans nearing DNS approval
15. 84 unit 7 story Belltown area residential retail project in the works
16. 40,000 s.f. 3 story W. Bremerton area commercial-residential development nearing DNS approval
17. 41,800 s.f. Rochester area Industrial process-fabrication facility development receives mitigated DNS approval
18. 30 unit 4 story mixed use residential retail project proposed for Beacon Hill
19. 27 lot Othello area residential subdivision project gets mitigated DNS approval
20. 263,500 s.f. UW Campus medical center facilities expansion in the works
21. and there is another 20 to 30 more just like this.

The point is the real estate market is far from dead here, and economic activity in the real estate business is anticipating growth and more growth.   This is all good.   The Northwest continues to be one of the strongest real estate markets and economies in the nation.   Yes housing sales have taken a hit, but 100’s of millions of dollars are getting pumped into the real estate market by major plays in the real estate industry.   You can bet they’ve done their demographic and economic studies before risking so much of their own money.   We have a bright future.   We just need to be patient and remember, “This too shall pass.”

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People everywhere are using the Internet to search for real estate. The National Association of Realtors’ survey indicated 84% of all home buyers start their search on the Internet. Now there is more proof of the growing reliance on the Internet for all things.

Internet usage in the US has reached an estimated 178 million, or 79 percent of the entire adult population, according to a recent survey conducted among 2,062 adults by Harris Interactive over the course of July through October.

Harris first began tracking Internet usage in 1995. Then, only nine percent of the population went online. However, the numbers have been steadily increasing year after year from 57 percent in 2000, 66 percent in 2002, 74 percent in 2005, and 77 percent last year. The amount of time people are spending online has also increased. The average number of hours per week that people are spending online rose to 11 hours, up from 9 hours in 2006 and 8 hours in 2005.

But perhaps most notable was the increase in people who use an alternative location besides work or home to get online, up from 22 percent in 2006 to 31 percent today – which could be, to a certain extent, attributable to the proliferation of web-enabled mobile devices. You can read the rest of the survey results here.

If you are buying or selling real estate, this logically means you would be well advised to connect with a Realtor who has a substantial Internet presence. Right? Here’s what I would look for: Competence, trustworthiness, experience, and a large Internet presence (not just a Static Internet Brochure masquerading as a website). Check out FreeRealEstateLaw.com plus this site, Sequim-Port-Angeles.blogspot.com, plus SequimPortAngeles.com plus ActiveRain plus Seattle Post Intelligencer Real Estate Blog plus Ezine Real Estate Articles and more that I chose not to reveal here, because some of my marketing is top secret and not to be revealed to my competition. I’m here to help. Email me. Buying? Selling? Tell me about it. Maybe I can help.

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Sequim view property is plentiful. As a matter of fact, Port Angeles view property is abundant, too. Where in the U.S. can you find so much view property? And where can you find it (1 to 5 acres) for $200,000 to $300,000? Not in California.

Answer: Right here on the Olympic Peninsula. Granted, the pictures here are actually European castles, and not local mansions. I do have plenty of local photos, if you are far away and would like to see more.

Real estate developments in Sequim and Port Angeles have a surprising number of lots with great views. I’m always careful when someone is asking me long distance about the view, because every view is measured by past personal experience. What one person considers a great view another one considers just a view, and then someone else will go crazy over the view. We are also blessed with some great mountain property and high bluff property also. Disclosure: the photo to the right is not an actual Sequim photo.

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