It's almost like someone flipped the switch on Monday January 12th.  Mark it on your calendar.  The phones started to ring, buyers and sellers began to walk in the door unsolicited, homes that hadn't been shown in weeks had multiple showings, open house traffic went from zero to heavy and the office is once again full of agents working with clients.

 

What happened?  Well, first of all the snow melted down to a manageable level and the roads cleared up.  That helped immensely as buyers had literally been snowbound for weeks.  Interest rates continued to touch record lows.  The inauguration seemed to infuse a new sense of optimism in all of America, regardless of political affiliation.  The value of the housing dollar in Spokane has never been better.  A nice confluence of events that appears to have awoken a hibernating market.

 

Windermere is the market share leader in Spokane so the activity in our office is very indicative of the Spokane market as a whole.  We are happy to report that we've had more homes go under contract in the past week than we had in all of December.  We've even seen multiple offers on properties and believe it or not....the upper end market is actually showing signs of life as well. 

 

Activity in the upper end market is significant because for the past several months 80% of the volume in Spokane was transacted in the $250,000 and under market.  In fact in the months of November and December COMBINED there were only 5 residential properties sold in excess of $600,000 in ALL of Spokane County.  In the past two days we've sold two properties in excess of $600,000 in our office alone. 

 

Do two sales and two weeks of increased activity indicate a market turnaround?  Of course not, but if we can tack on two more weeks that will make a four week trend.  If we can follow that up with another 30 days of stronger sales, then we will be to mid-March and entering the seasonal upswing.  Will the market spark turn into a market rebound?  Only time will tell but we've taken the first step and the positive momentum sure feels good.

 

Yes it might sound like propaganda, but there has never been a better time to buy a home in Spokane than today.  You have an incredible window of opportunity, whether its your first home or that next home you've had your eye on.  Only time will tell how long that window will remain open, but don't be kicking yourself this time next year if your housing dollar only goes 80-90% as far as it does today.

 

We have 90 of Spokane's finest real estate professionals ready, willing and able to exceed your expectations!  Contact us today to see how we can help you achieve your real estate goals.