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Real Estate Market Report for Bainbridge Island Market Report March 2009.
Experts remind us that one month does not make a trend, but we had some pretty good news in the March home sale numbers on Bainbridge.
Of the 14 single-family home sales that recorded in March, four home sales were at one million dollars or higher and six sales were in the "dead zone" of $600,000 to $999,999.
That means over 70 percent of all home sold on Bainbridge were priced at $600,000 or higher.
We had 33 sales so far this year compared with 34 last year. The median home price (half sold for more, half sold for less) jumped from just under $700,000 last March vs. over $780,000 this March.
Granted, median home prices are not very meaningful on a month-to-month comparison basis, but it is still a very positive number.
BOTTOME LINE: This is a very significant trend to watch in the coming months. Has the Jumbo loan freeze begun to crack?
Time will tell.
(Special thanks to Jim Peek, whom I have found to be the numbers "guru" when it comes to properly sifting through the NWMLs data, for superb year-to-year comparisons.)
1st-Time Buyers
We need to remind ourselves, our customers, our family members, our friends, and anyone else we strike a conversation with about the incredible personal stimulus package for first-time buyers this year: an $8,000 tax credit.
It's called a "tax credit" but if you read all the details, even if you pay less than $8,000 in taxes, you would get credited back the difference with a check from Uncle Sam next year.
Remember: a first-time buyer, as defined by the IRS, is anyone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
But like all good deals, this is truly a "limited time offer" and applies for purchases made between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009.
And there is a way first-time buyers can take advantage of this break now: reduce their withholding immediately by $8,000 to book this income now and shore up their down payment with the increased income they will receive from reducing their withholding tax.
Best site for the details:www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com
By the time you see the bottom of the Market, you have already missed it!
