Real estate sales were up in several Whatcom County communities last month, and it wasn’t just homebuyers trying to take advantage of a federal tax credit deadline.
Bellingham recorded 158 property sales in April, a 10.5 percent increase from March and a 19.7 percent jump from April 2009, according to data collected by First American Title of Bellingham. These property sales include residential, commercial, industrial and undeveloped land. Bellingham has tallied 473 property sales through the first four months of 2010, a 9.2 percent increase compared to the previous year.
While used single family homes were a big part of the April rise in Bellingham –100 sold last month, up from 80 in March and 84 in April 2009 – multi-family, condominiums and platted lots also posted year-over-year increases. The one category lagging behind is sales of new homes: Only two new homes sold in Bellingham last month and 16 for the year. That’s way down from the first four months of 2009 (30 new homes sold) and 2008 (67 new homes sold).
The huge drop in new home sales in Bellingham shows just how much new home construction has grinded to a halt, said Gragg Miller of Coldwell Banker Miller-Arnason.
Ferndale, Lynden and Blaine are posting similar growth numbers in property sales to Bellingham. Those three communities sold 154 properties last month, slightly higher than March but up 51 percent compared to April 2009. For the first four months of the year, the three communities have been able to maintain sales of new homes: 38 have sold in 2010, nearly matching the first four months of 2009, when 39 were sold.
Commercial and industrial property sales have been particularly active. Through April, 41 such properties have sold in Ferndale, Lynden and Blaine, compared to 23 for the same period in 2009. Overall, 529 properties have sold in 2010, up 26.8 percent compared to the first four months in 2009.
Why is it when the Bellingham Herald reports on any economic subject in the community; the Bellingham Herald leaves out vital information? You say home sales are up in Whatcom County? How about telling people the truth about those numbers? Every time a house is listed as pending The house is listed through the census bureau as sold. This is where you get your information is it not? The house in question could have been pending many times over. A person may not have qualified for their loan, they could have changed their minds etc… Your percentages are estimates ONLY!!! Go drive out in the county and you will see tons and tons of for sale signs. I have researched this area for the past 8 years regarding the housing market. I have seen houses pend and then re-enter the market. they would have been counted as sold. Not only are the percentages inaccurate for the housing market; but the jobless rate posted yesterday in the Bellingham Herald as well. How about giving accurate information to people who do not or cannot do their own research. The people counted for the unemployment rate; are only those who are listed as actively seeking jobs.As soon as their unemployment runs out in a year (two years if an extension occurred) Those people are no longer counted. Our unemployment rate may have dropped but the people without jobs has risen and now those people who were previously counted are not counted;but no longer have an income. How about listing how many people are now applying for DSHS?
Hi Annette,
I’ll try to answer you questions, broken down by topic:
1. Home sales: In this study, First American Title counts all the property sales that have closed (loan approved, title of property given to the new owner) that’s recorded at the county offices. None of the numbers in this report include pending sales.
Yes, there are plenty of For Sale signs out there, so there’s plenty of supply to work through. The pace of demand is a bit higher than it was in April 2009, according to this study.
2. Unemployment: The article clearly states the number of jobs in Whatcom County increased between March and April, according to state estimates.
Here’s a sentence from that article: “According to the ESD, 98,300 people were employed in Whatcom County in April, up from 96,390 in March. There were 8,520 people actively seeking work last month, down from 10,140 in March.”
Unfortunately there isn’t an accurate way that I know of to measure the unemployment rate to include the discouraged worker (those who have had unemployment benefits end and are no longer using WorkSource or other government programs to try and find work) unless the government took a census-like survey each month.
3. DSHS: People apply to DSHS for a wide range of programs, including cash assistance, child support, treatment for addiction, adoption and medical help. Is there a particular program that you think would be good to list that shows the state of the local economy?