Valley Home Sales Finally Start To Move After Sluggish Quarter

The sales pace of Valley homes is gaining strength after a slightly sluggish first quarter.

Realtors say they’re now looking forward to what’s typically their busiest time of year - April and May.

“The market is starting to pick up nicely as we move into the spring,” said John Orr of Tomlinson Black Valley. “We had a little bit of pent-up demand after the holidays. There’s a little more urgency on the parts of buyers. But it will take a little bit of time before we can absorb the inventory that’s out there.

Of the year’s first three months, March showed the most promise with homes moving off the market in an average of two months’ time and with total volume up $2 million from February.

In January and February, homes sold in an average of 80 days and average monthly volume was $8.8 million.

“That’s fairly normal,” said Bob Krafft of Windemere Real Estate. “March normally would have more volume and it’s a normal trend. Our best selling season is the first six months of year. We really get rolling in April and May.”

Of the 229 Valley homes that sold in the first three months of this year, 67 were new. The properties, which raked in a total volume of $28.3 million, sold for an average of $123,508. Homes stayed on the market an average of 74 days.

The average selling price has stayed down just slightly from the first quarter of 1996, when homes sold for an average of $123,602.

The number of homes sold is also down somewhat from the same time last year. Realtors said they’re attributing that to poor weather.

“(Sales) have been somewhat subdued,” said Krafft.

That’s evidenced by the drop in prices of newly constructed homes, he said. The sale of existing Valley homes outpaced new construction in the market’s first quarter. About 76 percent of homes sold were resales, said Krafft. Builders opted to lower prices on newly completed homes rather than let those houses sit on the market, he said.

The subdivisions experiencing the highest level of sales are River Walk, Ridgemont, Northwood and MeadowWood. Known for their view lots and access to the Spokane River and Liberty Lake, those subdivisions are drawing in more and more buyers.

People are looking for moderately priced homes, which all those subdivisions provide. About 45 percent of all Valley homes sold were within the $100,000 to $160,000 price range.

Orr said he’s beginning to notice more out-of-town interest in Spokane - a sign of an economy that’s gaining momentum. Many buyers have noted the expansion of Packet Engines as the reason they’re relocating to the area, he said.

Realtors now say they’re taking March’s activity as an indicator of the coming months.

“As the weather warms up and things dry out and flowers bloom, we’ll look forward to a pretty exciting spring and summer,” he said.

, DataTimes