Whatcom County’s total property sales saw a significant jump in October, according to data collected from First American Title of Bellingham.
In Bellingham there were 182 property sales in October, up from 140 in October 2008, which was the first month following the national financial meltdown. Total property sales included residential, commercial, industrial and undeveloped properties. Year-to-date, there have been 1,475 property transactions in Bellingham, down 17.7 percent compared to the same period in 2008.
In Ferndale, Lynden and Blaine there were 174 sales last month, up from 137 in October 2008. Year-to-date, there have been 1,342 transactions, down 14.8 percent compared to the same period as last year.
It’s been an interesting trend to watch… total property sales were extremely slow in the first few months of 2009, but in the last couple of months it has been trending ahead of 2008. In Bellingham last month, used single family homes, multi-family buildings, condos and commercial property were tracking ahead of the October 2008 numbers.
The first few months of this year is when I think our local Real Estate market hit bottom in almost all price ranges. Sales have been increasing because of all of the first time home buyers who got offers in last minute before the $8,000 tax credit was set to expire. Now that they have extended AND expanded the credit to more buyers, expect sales to continue to be up, year over year this winter.
Hi Paul,
It’ll be interesting to see what the expansion of the tax credit program (people owning the same house for five consecutive years getting a credit when they buy a different home) will mean to home sales in the mid- and upper- price range.