Sequim Real Estate Market Gets a Boost

The Sequim real estate market and the Port Angeles real estate market have been under water like so much of the country’s real estate for the past year plus.  So how is our market and are there any signs of improvement?  Yes there are signs of improvement, but we may not be able to conclusively say we are on the upswing.  The national media has published several articles in the past week that home sales are up and that our real estate market may be on the upswing.  Business Week reported today that home sales are up with an article entitled, “Signed home-purchase agreements in the U.S. rose in June to the highest monthly level in two years, according to the National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index that was released on Aug. 4.”

A change in the national real estate market trend does not necessarily translate to Clallam County.  What we can say as we look back at the past couple of decades is that the Sequim market in particular lags behind the markets to our south, because most sellers in southern states only make their move to buy in Sequim when they are able to sell their homes first.

According to Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate Broker and Retired Attorney Chuck Marunde, “We need to be careful about drawing long term conclusions with the use of short term data.  What has happened here in the past few weeks or even a month or two does not prove we have recovered, or that we have bottomed out, but it is a good start.  We need two quarters at least to measure the housing market trend.”

Are sales moving up at all in Sequim?  Yes, at least in the short term.  Marunde smiles when asked the question.  Sitting up a little straighter, he seems pleased when he says, “I sold two houses this weekend [August 8 and 9] and I noticed a number of showings by other Realtors in the area, too.  While my personal experience is not statistically valid to measure the broader market, I do note that the number of houses that have gone under contract in our MLS this week has increased by a half a dozen or more.  So it is clear that buyers are making their move suddenly.”

Why are buyers making a move, at least this week and this weekend in Sequim?  When Marunde asked his clients, they had two answers.  First, they have a concern that interest rates are about to start climbing significantly, or at least go up.  Second, it seems the fall is a good time to move and make a transition to a new community.  All of these clients have been planning their move to Sequim sooner or later, and their own retirement planning, the market, interest rates, and the time of year all seem to play a part in the decision to make the move and get serious about buying a home.

This is good news for Sequim and Port Angeles.  It’s good news for sellers.  It may or may not be good news for buyers.  If other buyers are making the move at the same time, and it seems apparent that they are, then the competition to buy the nicer homes heats up.  That will eventually push prices up slightly and begin the long slow recovery.  Maybe we are on the verge of recovery, but we won’t know for sure for another three to six months.