Industrial News

The average sales price of a Whatcom County home during the first half of 2006 was $325,582, up 17 percent from the same time period in 2005, according to Lylene Johnson of The Muljat Group South (http://www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com) office in Fairhaven. The median sales price of a home -- the midpoint of all sales -- in the county was $281,000.

Johnson prepares a quarterly report after analyzing data from the Bellingham-Whatcom County Multiple Listing Service and the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The housing market varied significantly within the county in the last three months. When compared to the first quarter, the average sales price of a home rose 5 percent in Bellingham ($369,190), 13 percent in Ferndale ($330,506) and 10 percent in Sudden Valley ($292,867), but inched ahead only 0.6 percent in Birch Bay ($327,028) and actually fell 5 percent in Lynden ($307,123).

The housing inventory for the county’s five largest communities -- Bellingham, Lynden, Ferndale, Blaine/Birch Bay and Sudden Valley -- has more than doubled. Those communities had 1,357 residences for sale on June 30, compared to 655 a year ago.

Although the additional inventory hasn’t brought prices down, the average time it takes to sell a house in the county has risen from 52 days in the first half of 2005 to 71 days this year.

Also, more homes on the market haven’t led to more sales. The number of houses sold in the county fell 13 percent in this year’s first half to 1,348.

“Buyers are concerned about paying too much for a house and they are looking at more houses before they make a decision,” Johnson said. “There now are plenty of houses languishing on the market because buyers think they’re priced too high. Generally speaking, if a property doesn’t sell in its first two weeks, it will be on the market for several months.”

The average sales price of home sales in the first half of this year, the percentage increase in the average price over the first half of 2005, and the median price for the first half of this year follows for selected communities:

Bellingham – 2006 average, $362,860, up 19 percent; 2006 median price, $305,000.
Lynden – 2006 average, $312,617, 0 percent change; 2006 median price, $289,725.
Ferndale – 2006 average, $317,207, up 13 percent; 2006 median price, $284,950.
Blaine/Birch Bay – 2006 average, $324,638, up 27 percent; 2006 median price, $255,900.
Sudden Valley – 2006 average, $282,438, up 7 percent; 2006 median, $267,900.