RELAX, Chicken Little!

The sky is not falling! The Juneau real estate market is NOT crashing.

Right now there are 76 single family homes on the MLS in Juneau. That is a LOT for this market. Most of 2006 there were only about 35 single family homes available at any given time. Everywhere you look there are "For Sale" signs. It makes a person wonder.

What I've noticed is a noticeable lack of "FSBO" signs. There are a few, but not like what we saw during 2005 and 2006. Sellers didn't even want to talk to a real estate professional. Most agents were begging for listings. In the seller's eyes, they didn't need us. Maybe a small percentage managed just fine on their own, but in my talks with appraisers and title officers, it wasn't always smooth sailing. Many deals had problems... the kind a real estate professional sees coming and knows how to handle.

Back to the reality of TODAY, March 7, 2007. Here are the statistics from the MLS as of 9:00 PM

There are 76 single family homes, ranging in price from $185,000 - $1,200,000.

The average asking price is $386,031. The median is $354,900.

<250,000 - 8 listings

<300,000 - 16 listings

<350,000 - 13 listings

<400,000 - 14 listings

<450,000 - 9 listings

<500,000 - 5 listings

<600,000 - 6 listings

>600,000 - 5 listings

There are currently 19 listings under contract, meaning they have an accepted offer and are heading to closing. They range in price from $135,000 - 499,900. The average asking price is $336,439 and the median asking price is $338,000.

This means at this time there is about a four month supply of homes on the market. National statistics indicate that a six month supply of homes is an indicator of a balanced market. If you take out the high end homes (those over $500,000) we really only have about 3.5 months worth of homes on the market.

In February and March of 2006 there were 24 homes sold, prices ranging from $150,000 - 561,500.

Chicken Little, rest easy. The sky is NOT falling.

Brought to you by Debbie White, REALTOR, Associate Broker, RE/MAX of Juneau http://www.isellalaska.com