Fairbanks, Alaska - January 2008 Market Report

Before I get into the specific market performance I want to encourage those Fairbanks buyers and sellers reading this to seek the counsel of a competent, market savvy real estate agent (I happen to know a great team, btw. :) to help you evaluate individual homes for sale or to properly position your home for sale. These numbers represent the movement of the entire Fairbanks real estate market - there are sections of the market that are performing quite well and conversely there are segments that are underperforming. Please contact us with questions about a specific segment of the market or a individual property. The correct interpretation and application of these numbers will save you not only a potential headache but time and money as well.

Now, ready, set go... on to the numbers

Sales of individual homes increased slightly in February over January '08, but are still down almost 27% as compared to January 2007 and 24% lower than January 2006. As the saying goes, "It's the economy, silly" or in our case "It's the price, silly." I think we're going to have to see prices drop a little before sales truly begin to pick up in earnest.

The meat and potatoes of any market report is the sales price - are pricing climbing or dropping like a rock? February saw the average sales price decline to $213,825 from January's $215,786. The good news is that historically, the average sales price has been holding steady and even showing a slight increase. As compared to the average price in 2007, we're up 2.3%. That's not a huge number but it's not a negative number either.

The average days on the market decreased by almost 31% from January, which is good news, but it's still more than double the 2007 year-end average. At 117 days it's also 139% higher than February 2007. As homes take longer to sell, many sellers are lowering the asking price to entice buyers and to stand out in the sea of homes for sale.

Another number that's often overlooked is the list to sales price ratio. Simply put, this is the difference between the list price and the ultimate selling price. This is a difficult number to calculate because our MLS allows, and some would say encourages, members to manipulate sales data. February numbers show sellers received, on average, 90.4% of their asking price, which is a slight increase from January's 89.5%. The 2007 year end average was 96.6%

The absorption rate, calculated in months, is the amount of time it would take to sell every listing currently on the market, assuming no new homes were listed for sale. Current numbers show it would take 9.2 months to sell everything on the market - a dramatic 119% increase from September 2007.

Confused yet? If so, you're not alone. Understanding a homes "value" requires that all of these items be taken into account along with the sales of comparable homes. If you're shopping for a home, possibly PCS'ing to Fort Wainwright or Eielson Air Force Base or if you're just thinking of making a local move, give us a call. We can help you identify those homes that are good values in today’s market. If you're considering placing your home on the market or just curious about your homes market value, Call or email us today for a free no obligation market analysis.

Number of Homes Sold Click to Enlarge	Total Sales Volume Click to Enlarge
Average Sales Price Click to Enlarge	Average Days on Market Click to Enlarge
Average List/Sales Price Ratio Click to Enlarge	Absorption Rate Click to Enlarge