Eric Bushnell

We finished another great weekend and now the weather has started to change. We have seen some much needed rain. But how does this effect the local market?

If it sunny everyday then buyers just want to have fun, they go fishing, hiking and explore this wonderful area. When the weather gets a little cold we see people start to worry about winter, BTW, school starts in one month.

This means that buyers are going to be seriously looking. Inventory levels, homes available for sale, are dropping. This is a good thing. Interest rates were down again today.

The recap for Eagle River is this, 8 homes pended, and there were 6 closing. several of these homes were in the $600,000+ range. The average home price pended in the last 30 days was $369,000. That is moving up from the first half of the year.

All in all the Eagle River real estate market is doing well, but then Eagle River has always done better than other areas. Eagle River is the place to live.

Here is a brief over view of the Eagle River Real Estate Market. In the last week we experienced some very nice weather, and the annual bear Paw festival was underway. What we saw was a slow down in sales as well as new listings on the market as people took time out to have fun.

The overall inventory levels fell slightly as fewer homes came on the market and nine homes closed successfully. there have been several pending properties this week and I see many Realtors out showing property.

The strongest sales activity has been under $350,000. However, I have seen several buyers looking at homes in the upper $400,000.

Interest rates continue to be steady, ranging from 4.75% for 15 year mortgage to 5.375% for a 30 year mortgage. Please contact Aaron Gray at Homestate Mortgage, (907) 689-6456, for more information on available rates and programs.

The Eagle River real estate market continues to hold steady. Please fill free to make comments, or call me at (907) 360-7471 with questions.

As we enter into the new construction season and saw dust starts to fly through the air, one wonders will we get back to the growth we saw just a few years ago.

I believe we will see steady growth in new construction side of real estate. In Eagle River we will see steady growth. Powder Ridge is seeing several new homes this year. Nolan homes, LLC is almost finished with a a home and there are open houses there each weekend.

Nolan Homes is currently marketing 22 new homes in the Powder Ridge subdivision. There is a myriad of styles and sizes. Nolan Homes is offering two levels of specifications, a standard level which is still a higher level of building specifications, and a Luxury build specification. The Luxury level includes upgrades such hardwood flooring, granite counter tops, and many other features withing he home.

New construction is moving forward and Eagle River is growing. Come to Powder Ridge and see the progress.

Life in Alaska is a blast when the weather cooperates, and this summer it is. Although this last week had a little rain, it was needed and by the middle of Sunday it had subsided. this was good news for myself and my family.

We took out the boat this weekend and visited the Deshka River. Fishing reports were pretty dismal, but we though we'd give it a try. The weather was rainy all morning so we didn't get started until about 10:30. We launched and headed down river. It looked pretty slow so we stayed near the mouth.

We did have a coiuple strikes, probably trout messing with our rigs. Weather was good so we just relaxed and let the lures do the work. At one point I decided to change lures and put a big Kenai Quicksilver on. My partners laughed and asked if I was going to try clubbing a fish.

I tossed the lure out a couple times, not really paying attention when I felt a tug, so I tugged back and this fish tried to pull me overboard. This fish was really nice, about 40 inches long. Not sure of the weight, 35-45 lbs.

What is happening out there? This is what I was asking myself yesterday. Interest rates did a little dance yesterday. They didn't just jump,they jumped twice. The good news is they stayed stable today.

Now is the building season for new construction. My second question was how is this going to effect the new homes we're going to build? Steady interest rates make everyone happy. Timing the market is not a good recipe for success.

I spoke with another business owner in town about the small jump, and he said that maybe he should have bought another home and used it for a rental. I realize there is a lot of uncertainty in the economy, but the housing market in Eagle River Alaska has remain steady.

If you are trying to time the market, don't. There are good deals out there and the interest rates are pretty low. Waiting for that better deal will only cause you to miss out on the good deal that is available now.

I think that if we worry to much about what we may lose, we will never get a chance to live. You have to make decisions, you have to make choices, you cannot live on the sidelines. How many people do you know that missed out on that great opportunity?

I am not saying take risk, just don't be paralyzed by the unknown. Life is all about the unknown, make good decisions and move on..I mean move in.